John Chiv: Defense motion to exclude evidence from 2021 raid granted in Christie case

The hearing on the last defense motion about evidence from the 2018 Ray Christie case concluded this morning with some major wins for the defense and Christie including Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis granting the defense motion to exclude evidence from the 2021 raid, hinting his ruling may help towards resolution and requiring the People to respond to future motions.

Mr. Rick Richmond is Christie's attorney. His associates, Ms. Caroline Glennie-Smith and Jodie Koo appeared via Zoom. Christie also appeared via Zoom.

Deputy District Attorney Steve Steward is the lead prosecutor for this case. Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis has been assigned to this case for retrial.

"Judge Elvine-Kreis granted their motion to exclude evidence from the 2021 raid over our objection and denied our request for an evidentiary hearing " said Mr. Steward. "We are on for trial setting 5/9."

Even before attorneys presented argument, Judge Elvine-Kreis said that he had read all the papers and his tentative decision was to grant the motion.

Mr. Steward said this was a motion in limine and he preferred to address it closer to trial and requested an evidentiary hearing.

Mr. Richmond said the defense is entitled to file motions according to the rules. Mr. Richmond added that Mr. Steward had the opportunity to respond and he did not file anything.

Mr. Richmond told Judge Elvine-Kreis that the Judge made him provide proof why a witness should be allowed to testify. Judge Elvine asked Mr. Steward who he intended to call at the evidentiary hearing.

Mr. Steward said through the testimony of Mario Avelar he wanted to show that Avelar leased the land which belongs to Christie. Judge Elvine-Kreis said that was not in dispute.

Mr. Steward said he wanted to have Sgt. McCall testify. Judge Elvine-Kreis asked why. Sgt.McCall has previously testified and the People have his report.

Judge Elvine-Kreis in court hinted at a resolution saying perhaps today's rulling would help lead the parties in that direction.

Judge Elvine-Kreis said that there are state rules but we have our own rules. He told Mr. Steward that in the future if there are motions, the People are required to respond. Judge Elvine-Kreis told Mr. Richmond that he does not want a motion every week.

Mr. Richmond responded that while Judge Elvine-Kreis denied the defense motion that the 2018 raid was unconstitutional, there are several evidentiary issues. Mr. Richmond brought up HCSO deputy Travis Mendes' testimony from a previous hearing. Read the postvin metadata and missing pictures.

Trial setting is on March 9. However in court today, based on what Mr. Richmond said, there will be motions filed regarding the 2018 raid.

Christie is still has to have dental surgery and medical appointments regarding cancer.

In my post yesterday, this was one of the excerpts from the defense filing on March 22.

Mr. Richmond:

"We will be ready to argue the motion at the noticed hearing on Thursday, March 24, 2022 on the basis of the facts and law we provided. As we detailed in our moving papers, we believe the People have failed to meet their burden under Evidence Code section 403 to introduce the proffered evidence from the October 13, 2021 raid, and cannot meet their burden. The People have said nothing in response. Accordingly, we request that the Court grant the motion on the unopposed papers. "

I got this response from the People yesterday.

Mr. Steward:

"This case is on calendar tomorrow morning and we do not yet have a trial date. I will address defense council’s motion in limine at that time."

There are several exclusives including details on thid motion, a previous motion filed which wasnt heard which stated much of the same information today. The ruling by Judge Elvine-Kreis was a no brainer.

If you are not following the coverage on this case and don't read the blog regularly, you need to read more details and exclusive information in yesterday's post and previous coverage to get context, background and catch up.

Yesterday's post:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/03/this-is-not-first-time-people-have.html?m=1

Previous posts(these are just some of the many posts I have done on this 2018 case):

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/03/bailiff-mendes-told-ray-christies.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/02/no-documents-in-court-ops-box-and.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/02/this-kind-of-behavior-cannot-and-should.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/resolving-this-case-would-certainly-end.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-cattle-dont-belong-to-christie.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/motion-to-dismiss-or-suppress-evidennce.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/more-waste-of-time-and-resources-in.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/metadata-stripped-missing-pictures.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2022/01/humboldt-county-recklessly-allowed-sick.html?m=1