Trial confirmation, motion for new trial, motion to continue and a new filing by defense was discussed this morning. Jury trial for October 4 was vacated.
Trial setting and setting for pre trial motions is scheduled for October 6.
Mr. Rick Richmond, Christie's attorney was in court today with two associates from the Larson Law Firm appearing via Zoom. Deputy District Attorney Steven Steward was present for the People.
There was a lot of discussion, statements by Judge Wilson and the attorneys. Carcasses,tags, 405,1101 (b) evidence, discovery defense needs from previous trial witnesses and time needed for adequate trial preparation before two motions were finally decided.
"One is an interconnected issue, " said Judge Wilson. "The misdemeanors for which the jury has returned a verdict. It seems the totality of the treatment of the cattle...If misdemeanors convictions stand, I agree there is a 405 issue."
"The misdemeanors expand the scope of the trial significantly and impact defense's ability to prepare for trial," said Judge Wilson.
Judge Wilson said that the misdemeanors could be brought in by the prosecution as 1101 (b) evidence if motion for new trial is denied. He asked for a declaration from the People.
"The situation is this," said Mr. Steward, "If the motion for the new trial is denied, the People would dismiss the remaining hung jury (misdemeanor) counts. If the court were to grant the motion for a new trial, the People would proceed on all misdemeanor counts. If the defense would withdraw the motion for new trial; I will dismiss the misdemeanor counts."
There was discussion about the motion for new trial which was filed by previous defense counsel, Mr. John Cogorno. Some other remarks by attorneys.
That prompted Judge Wilson to say "Nothing about this case is usual." That is true but perspectives may differ why.
The jury in Christie's case and their deliberations were the wierdest I have ever seen. You can google those posts which I wrote at the time.
"Regarding discovery, I want to put on record that prior counsel may or may not have provided to current counsel," said Mr. Steward. The People would work with defense.
Mr. Richmond said he did not have an index of discovery that the People said they had; he was missing testimony from Ryan Bjork, Matthew Wells and Daniel (will add last name ). "I don't have the search warrants. I don't know what happened to the evidence seized; his computer and personal phone. We don't know where electronic information is in Mr. Christie's phone. Mr. Christie would like his family photos."
"I am not withdrawing the motion for new trial to preserve it for appeal," said Mr. Richmond. "If we get a 90 day continuance, then I will re-brief the motion for new trial. Otherwise I will submit on Mr. Cogorno's motion."
When Judge Wilson asked Mr. Richmond about time for prep, he responded, "If the carcass and tags come in; I am still in a bad spot."
More discussion. Both the People and defense submitted on the motion for new trial. The motion for new trial was denied by Judge Wilson.
"I am going to hear about the carcasses and tags as part and parcel of the felony charges," said Judge Wilson. "I want the matter to conclude with finality so with some regret, I find good cause and I will grant the motion to continue."
With the motion to continue granted, the People dismissed the remaining misdemeanor counts from the first trial. These are the counts the jury could not reach a verdict on during deliberations. The dismissed counts are Counts 8, 16, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 40 and 41. Hopefully, an amended information will be filed. Pending charges in e court before today still included the felonies, the hung jury misdemeanor counts and the convicted misdemeanor counts and it is very confusing.
The People gave a three week time estimate including jury selection. Mr. Richmond said "one and a half weeks, if I am successful with the 402/405."
Judge Wilson said that "as of the first of the year, there are new laws regarding jury selection so prepare for a longer jury selection."
Documents filed by the defense this Friday did not make it to the court file. Mr. Richmond provided a copy to Judge Wilson which he returned after the hearing.
This retrial is different. Mr. Steward is a better attorney and prosecutor than former Deputy DA and currently Deputy Public Defender Adrian Kamada.
The mysterious exit of Mr. Kamada from the D.A.'s office was only reported on this blog in June 2020. Was it connected with the mistrial that was declared in Christie's first case in December 2019?
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/12/ray-christie-jury-hopelessy-deadlocked.html?m=1
I don't know if Deputy DA David Moutrie will still be second chair on the Christie case . Maybe the new Deputy DA Ian Harris with environmental law in his background?
There isn't even any comparison between Mr. Richmond and Christie's former attorneys, John Cogorno and Ken Bareilles. It was hard to respect either of the previous counsel or take them seriously as lawyers. It is like comparing caviar to a hot dog.
Christie now has a professional, top class Los Angeles law firm. Most Humboldt lawyers and defense attorneys are a part of the local entrenched systems. That is not what Christie needs to get a fair trial. The friendships, the conflicts of interests, not wanting to stand up to the good ole Humboldt clique and mob mentality of this community doesn't equal justice for all. Marci Kitchen, Brett Watson, Rick Littlefield are just the well known examples. This blog has several others based on court records.
From the remarks Judge Wilson has made in court, informal remarks by local attorneys to me and comments on social media and in person; let's hope Christie gets a fair trial. The trial judge can exclude evidence and make rulings and there is no recourse during trial.
Many in typical Humboldt style hate Christie but they don't even know him and have never met him. They have heard something from their mother-in-law who heard it from her hairdresser who was told by her niece about an opinion on some Facebook page run by locals or some disgruntled person with axe to grind. Local gossip does not equal fact.
The anonymous commenters, as usual, have a lot to say but don't even have the guts to use their names. If they are potential jurors in this case, will they lie about their real feelings and how would one know?
Anyone in Humboldt who is targeted by the good ole network, their psycophants and minions doesn't get a fair shake. The crime for speaking up and standing up for themselves is Humboldt destroying their reputations and lives unjustly. Turnabout is fair game and the cowards hate it.
Only in Humboldt the shady, anonymous funders and blatant conflicts of interest from media owners, law enforcement, businesses and politicians are ignored and tolerated.
There is a reason more and more people are hiring out of town lawyers. This blog has been the first to report on those developments. Some of those cases and lawyers have not been mentioned in any other media. Some of those lawyers only started getting coverage after their cases and successes were highlighted on this blog. When it comes to referrals to lawyers, people call me all the time because I have earned their trust with my independent coverage.
I did a post on September 17 about the Christie case which is linked below. I am not repeating all that information again. In that post are excerpts from the documents filed by defense on Friday.
Previous post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/09/it-is-unfair-to-ray-because-we-are.html?m=1#more
Related posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/06/adrian-kamada-gone-from-d-as-office.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/06/will-public-defender-marek-reavis.html?m=1#more
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/06/deputy-da-luke-bernthal-returns-to.html?m=1
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