Motions in limine and review of hardship questionnaires was scheduled this morning in former Humboldt County correctional officer Cory Fisher's case.
Attorneys will be reviewing hardship questionnaires from at least 50 jurors and individual questioning of individual jurors is expected to start as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Like many other firsts in this case such as the civil litigation from inmates, the subpoenas, the documents and details about inmates suing the County, there was a lot of other information discussed and revealed this morning in Fisher's case.
Fisher is charged with 13 counts of alleged sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior involving six minor male victims. 10 felony counts and four misdemeanors. Three of the minor victims are Fisher's own son and two stepsons.
Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads mentioned a few of the defense motions in limine. She told Judge Timothy Canning that she was opposing the defense motion to bifurcate the jury trial. She handed the court the document today.
From Cornell University: A bifurcated jury trial is " a judicial proceeding that is divided into two stages. The most common division is to determine liabiltiy or guilt in the first stage, and to establish damages or punishment in the second stage."
In Fisher's case, Deputy Conflict Counsel David Lee said, "The case is one charging document but in reality there are two different universes. One is how he may have behaved with family members and subsequent to that the reaction of inmates."
Mr. Lee said the inmates didn't come forward independently. He said their allegations were "a reaction to the publicity."
"There have been substantial settlements entered into with inmates," said Mr. Lee.
"We are not making a motion for a separate trial," said Mr. Lee. "We are asking to give the defendant a fair trial. To hear the evidence on family members first, then return to hear evidence on inmate charges."
This bifurcation motion took up most of the discussion. Mr. Lee cited Evidence Code 352 and asked that the "issues with the minors be the first part of the trial."
Ms. Eads cited Evidence Code 1108 and said "the law favors keeping the charges in one complaint" and said the "conduct was of similar nature". Fisher rolled his eyes when Ms. Eads talked about "all the victims being under Mr. Fisher's control.
Judge Canning is going to review case law and read the "People's brief" on the issue before making a decision.
The defense requested that jurors be allowed to view the jail. People also thought it was beneficial. Judge Canning wants input from County Counsel before making that decision.
The People have subpoenaed other inmates and four are out of county inmates. These are potential witnesses. Ms. Eads objected to those names being read in open court after Judge Canning read the first name. Mr. Lee had no idea who these inmates were. This is public information so I had to put in extra work to access public records to get that information. One of those inmates is Christopher Gould. The last names of other inmates recently subpoenaed are Goldberg , Torres, Keyes/Anderson and Fockaert.
Subpoenas to Sheriff William Honsal included any claims/settlement documents with inmates and Fisher's personnel documents.
Jail access for a barber to give Fisher a haircut was cleared by the jail through County Counsel. An order to access the jail between 1 and 6 p.m. on February 25 was granted.
No other media was in court. If Judge Canning continues to have the courtroom open for motions in limine, I will try and cover some of the rulings.
The defense seems to be fine with the Courtroom open. Given that this case is of great interest and the cost to taxpayers of civil settlements, I want to thank Judge Timothy Canning and Deputy Conflict Counsel David Lee for their transparency in having an open courtroom.
The schedule for motions in limine on Monday morning and Tuesday was discussed in court today but could change.
Recent posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/02/sheriff-william-honsal-gets-subpoena.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-do-three-more-inmates-have-to-do.html?m=1
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete