Post by CCADP on Aug 23, 2005 6:32:34 GMT -5
Bias claim is rejected in murder case
Judge denies motion to recuse
By Jessica Keating, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO - An attempt to kick the District Attorney's Office off a death-penalty case failed Monday when Superior Court Judge Michael Welch ruled there is no evidence to support a defense attorney's claim that prosecutors are biased against his client.
Jimmy Dale Kelley, 37, and his co-defendant, Kimberly Michaud, are charged with murder and robbery in connection with the shooting deaths of Patty Crevoisier, 49, William Landers, 43, and Ward Phillips, 37, at Crevoisier's Yucca Valley home on Jan. 26, 2004.
Kelley could be sentenced to die if convicted; Michaud faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In motions filed with the court, the defense claims prosecutors have a conflict because of Kelley's 1986 conviction in a vehicular manslaughter case involving an employee in the District Attorney's Office.
In addition, the defense argues prosecutors rushed to announce they would seek capital punishment against Kelley after newspapers quoted a confidential memo on the rationale for that decision.
Welch set aside the second claim Monday, focusing instead on whether the district attorney treated Kelley unfairly because an employee's nephew died in the crash caused by the defendant.
"I don't think there is that nexus,' Welch said, "so on that basis, I would deny the motion to recuse.'
Defense attorney Alan Spears, who took up the motion after public defender Joseph Canty was removed from the case, did not argue with Welch.
Instead, he urged the judge to give him a second crack at the bias theory based on the leaked death-penalty memo.
The issue, he said, is whether someone in the District Attorney's Office intentionally leaked the memo to pressure prosecutors into seeking capital punishment in the case.
"I seek to get to the bottom of a leak that could amount to prosecutorial misconduct,' said Spears, who wants to call district attorney employees to the stand to testify about the leak.
The matter is complicated, however, by the firing and subsequent rehiring of a longtime prosecutor accused by his bosses of leaking the death-penalty memo.
Grover Merritt resumed work in the District Attorney's Office earlier this month following the county Civil Service Commission's finding that his bosses lacked evidence to support their accusations.
Merritt denies he leaked the information.
Short of calling Merritt and other district attorney employees to the stand, Spears has asked the county to turn over audio tapes of its inquiry into Merritt's dismissal.
The county has protested, saying the hearing was a personnel matter, and therefore it was exempt from public disclosure.
Welch looked for compromise Monday.
Rather than hand the tapes over to Spears, Welch proposed listening to them in his chambers. Any information about who may have leaked the memo, he said, would be given to the defense and prosecution.
"That sounds great, your honor,' Spears told Welch. "That's a workable plan for us.'
Deputy District Attorney Michael Fermin, who is prosecuting Kelley and Michaud, declined to comment on the judge's proposal.
Outside court, Spears said he believed Monday's motion to recuse prosecutors was premature. Depending on what Welch finds in the tapes, he said, he may file a second recusal motion
San Bernardino County Sun
Judge denies motion to recuse
By Jessica Keating, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO - An attempt to kick the District Attorney's Office off a death-penalty case failed Monday when Superior Court Judge Michael Welch ruled there is no evidence to support a defense attorney's claim that prosecutors are biased against his client.
Jimmy Dale Kelley, 37, and his co-defendant, Kimberly Michaud, are charged with murder and robbery in connection with the shooting deaths of Patty Crevoisier, 49, William Landers, 43, and Ward Phillips, 37, at Crevoisier's Yucca Valley home on Jan. 26, 2004.
Kelley could be sentenced to die if convicted; Michaud faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In motions filed with the court, the defense claims prosecutors have a conflict because of Kelley's 1986 conviction in a vehicular manslaughter case involving an employee in the District Attorney's Office.
In addition, the defense argues prosecutors rushed to announce they would seek capital punishment against Kelley after newspapers quoted a confidential memo on the rationale for that decision.
Welch set aside the second claim Monday, focusing instead on whether the district attorney treated Kelley unfairly because an employee's nephew died in the crash caused by the defendant.
"I don't think there is that nexus,' Welch said, "so on that basis, I would deny the motion to recuse.'
Defense attorney Alan Spears, who took up the motion after public defender Joseph Canty was removed from the case, did not argue with Welch.
Instead, he urged the judge to give him a second crack at the bias theory based on the leaked death-penalty memo.
The issue, he said, is whether someone in the District Attorney's Office intentionally leaked the memo to pressure prosecutors into seeking capital punishment in the case.
"I seek to get to the bottom of a leak that could amount to prosecutorial misconduct,' said Spears, who wants to call district attorney employees to the stand to testify about the leak.
The matter is complicated, however, by the firing and subsequent rehiring of a longtime prosecutor accused by his bosses of leaking the death-penalty memo.
Grover Merritt resumed work in the District Attorney's Office earlier this month following the county Civil Service Commission's finding that his bosses lacked evidence to support their accusations.
Merritt denies he leaked the information.
Short of calling Merritt and other district attorney employees to the stand, Spears has asked the county to turn over audio tapes of its inquiry into Merritt's dismissal.
The county has protested, saying the hearing was a personnel matter, and therefore it was exempt from public disclosure.
Welch looked for compromise Monday.
Rather than hand the tapes over to Spears, Welch proposed listening to them in his chambers. Any information about who may have leaked the memo, he said, would be given to the defense and prosecution.
"That sounds great, your honor,' Spears told Welch. "That's a workable plan for us.'
Deputy District Attorney Michael Fermin, who is prosecuting Kelley and Michaud, declined to comment on the judge's proposal.
Outside court, Spears said he believed Monday's motion to recuse prosecutors was premature. Depending on what Welch finds in the tapes, he said, he may file a second recusal motion
San Bernardino County Sun