Last time it was a drunk in public trial, this time 6th continuance granted because of Bergel and Lowenstein hearing in Opera Alley murder case

(Photo from scene: John Chiv)

(Photo from scene: John Chiv)

The preliminary hearing for Opera Alley murder suspect Connor Whited and the defense motion to exclude statements was also continued to today. Both matters were rescheduled to March 17.



Whited is charged with the murder of Brett Keiling and a special allegation that he used a deadly weapon; a club.

Deputy Conflict Counsel April Van Dyke is Whited's attorney. Deputy District Attorney Adrian Kamada is the prosecutor.

No courtroom was available this morning. The case was sent to Judge Kelly Neel this afternoon. She met privately with attorneys in chambers. After half an hour, the courtroom was opened. Judge Neel said there were discussions regarding scheduling.

Ms. VanD Dyke said yesterday she received "400 pages of discovery; 200 were duplicative. In those pages there were DNA results. My client was excluded as a contributor. There were indicated positives and I am not sure if it was an unknown person. I need time to consult for a DNA analysis."

Mr. Kamada said the "two samples had mixed results. It was inconclusive regarding Mr. Whited; it did not exclude him. The surveilance video clearly establishes that Mr. Whited is the perpetrator so DNA will not change the outcome of the preliminary hearing." He asked that Judge Neel deny the motion to continue.

"While there have been several continuances, this case isn't old, " said Judge Neel. "However, this is just a probable cause hearing. What is presented is not good cause." Judge Neel denied the defense motion to continue based on  time needed for the DNA analysis.



"As I indicated to counsel in Chambers, I am in the middle of an ongoing hearing scheduled for tomorrow afternoon," said Judge Neel. She was referring to Kim Bergel's hearing requesting a restraining order against Cornelius Lowenstein.

The estimate for Whited's preliminary hearing is two days and the hearing was continued by the Court since Whited would not waive his right to a continuous preliminary hearing.

Just like the morning, EPD Senior Detective Ron Harpham and the evidence technician waited to see if the preliminary hearing would proceed.

I was the only one on the scene early that morning while EPD was still collecting evidence and the first one to report exclusive live coverage and photos in this post.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/09/three-police-cars-2-blocking-opera-alley.html?m=1

Earlier post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/02/will-there-be-sixth-continuance-for.html?m=1