Post by CCADP on Aug 30, 2005 6:05:21 GMT -5
From Jackson Hole Star Tribune
Judge orders detailed Yellowbear charges
By BRODIE FARQUHAR
Star-Tribune correspondent Tuesday, August 30, 2005
LANDER -- District Judge David Park of Casper has ordered prosecutors to produce a detailed set of charges against Andrew Yellowbear Jr., who's accused of first-degree murder in the death of his 22-month-old daughter, Marcella Hope Yellowbear.
Park last week turned down a defense motion to dismiss all charges against Yellowbear, but agreed with the defense that the prosecution's charges were too vague to prepare an adequate defense. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Yellowbear is charged with felony murder while committing the act of child abuse. The current charges do not specify what portion or portions of the state's child abuse statute he is alleged to have violated.
Originally, Yellowbear and Macalia Blackburn, the mother of the child, were both charged with first-degree murder. According to court documents, their daughter had extensive burns, bruises and sores on her body; a broken arm; a fractured skull; third-degree burns to her hand; and a hole in her chin.
Since then, Blackburn has pleaded guilty to being an accessory to second-degree murder, in a plea deal that makes her a witness for the prosecution.
Blackburn and Yellowbear have blamed each other for abusing the child.
Park ordered the prosecution to file by Sept. 8 information "specifying in detail the exact nature of the charges" against Yellowbear.
Defense attorney Terry Rogers had argued that without more detailed information on the charges, he found it impossible to prepare an adequate defense. Deputy Fremont County Attorney Tim Gist countered that the defense was seeking a road map of the prosecution's case and that the defense had all the relevant evidence through discovery.
Park sided with the defense and directed the prosecution to clarify which of two major provisions of the child abuse statute were allegedly violated by Yellowbear. The question of how child abuse is defined rests on whether the accused was legally responsible for the abused child when the abuse happened.
Fremont County Attorney Ed Newell said it shouldn't be difficult to reformat the charges and specify those portions of the statute the prosecution believes were violated by Yellowbear.
"We'll make it more clear," Newell said.
In his six-page opinion, Park wrote that as the prosecution presents more detailed theories at trial of how the death occurred, it will have to prove those theories, or the jury will need to use a special form indicating the basis for a conviction.
NewsTracker
* Last we knew: District Judge David Park granted a change of venue request and moved the first-degree murder trial of Andrew Yellowbear Jr. to Thermopolis.
* The latest: The judge order prosecutors to produce a detailed set of charges against Yellowbear.
* What's next: Prosecutors have until Sept. 8 to comply with the order.
Judge orders detailed Yellowbear charges
By BRODIE FARQUHAR
Star-Tribune correspondent Tuesday, August 30, 2005
LANDER -- District Judge David Park of Casper has ordered prosecutors to produce a detailed set of charges against Andrew Yellowbear Jr., who's accused of first-degree murder in the death of his 22-month-old daughter, Marcella Hope Yellowbear.
Park last week turned down a defense motion to dismiss all charges against Yellowbear, but agreed with the defense that the prosecution's charges were too vague to prepare an adequate defense. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Yellowbear is charged with felony murder while committing the act of child abuse. The current charges do not specify what portion or portions of the state's child abuse statute he is alleged to have violated.
Originally, Yellowbear and Macalia Blackburn, the mother of the child, were both charged with first-degree murder. According to court documents, their daughter had extensive burns, bruises and sores on her body; a broken arm; a fractured skull; third-degree burns to her hand; and a hole in her chin.
Since then, Blackburn has pleaded guilty to being an accessory to second-degree murder, in a plea deal that makes her a witness for the prosecution.
Blackburn and Yellowbear have blamed each other for abusing the child.
Park ordered the prosecution to file by Sept. 8 information "specifying in detail the exact nature of the charges" against Yellowbear.
Defense attorney Terry Rogers had argued that without more detailed information on the charges, he found it impossible to prepare an adequate defense. Deputy Fremont County Attorney Tim Gist countered that the defense was seeking a road map of the prosecution's case and that the defense had all the relevant evidence through discovery.
Park sided with the defense and directed the prosecution to clarify which of two major provisions of the child abuse statute were allegedly violated by Yellowbear. The question of how child abuse is defined rests on whether the accused was legally responsible for the abused child when the abuse happened.
Fremont County Attorney Ed Newell said it shouldn't be difficult to reformat the charges and specify those portions of the statute the prosecution believes were violated by Yellowbear.
"We'll make it more clear," Newell said.
In his six-page opinion, Park wrote that as the prosecution presents more detailed theories at trial of how the death occurred, it will have to prove those theories, or the jury will need to use a special form indicating the basis for a conviction.
NewsTracker
* Last we knew: District Judge David Park granted a change of venue request and moved the first-degree murder trial of Andrew Yellowbear Jr. to Thermopolis.
* The latest: The judge order prosecutors to produce a detailed set of charges against Yellowbear.
* What's next: Prosecutors have until Sept. 8 to comply with the order.