[vox] [Semi-OT] [fwd] Reiser trial delayed again, to Sept. 2007 at earliest

[Bill Kendrick]

Seen on SVLUG.  I know some folks around here have been interested in this
case.

-bill!

----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:32:09 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: [svlug] Reiser trial delayed again, to Sept. 2007 at earliest
To: svlug at lists.svlug.org

The latest news about the Reiser trial, following renewed hearings on
Monday, June 11, in Oakland:

o  A judge was appointed for the trial.
o  The trial's expected to be bogged down in pre-trial motions through 
   "the week of June 18 as well as in July".  Following that is the 
   judge's regular three-week vacation in August.
o  Defendent Reiser agreed to delay jury selection until Tuesday, August 28.
o  The judge opted for an elaborate, so-called "big spin" jury-selection
   process (to compensate for the possible biasing effect of news coverage) 
   that will then take about a month of additional time, resulting in a 
   delay of the actual trial's opening date to late September or early 
   October.  On October 10, Hans Reiser will have been held for 
   one year, without trial and without opportunity to post bail.
o  Alameda County Jail authorities have refused, for reasons never
   specified, to forward most of Hans Reiser's letters to his children,
   who, some months ago, were illegally kept in Russia by Nina's mother, 
   in defiance of Judge Julie Conger's orders.  (Son Rory's testimony 
   had been damaging to the county's case against Hans Reiser, and he 
   was due back following his Christmas to testify further.)


No thanks to our rather vague local press coverage, I am guessing that
Reiser stands charged with one count of second-degree murder.  No body
of the alleged victim, Reiser's estranged wife Nina, has ever been
found.

On Monday, June 11, Reiser's trial was assigned to veteran Alameda
County Superior Court judge Larry Goodman.  Alameda County had already
assigned county Deputy District Attorney Paul Hora[1] to argue its side
of the case, and attorney William Du Bois will represence the defence.
Hora asked Goodman for a blanket "gag" order barring all attorneys from
talking to the press.  Goodman refused to issue the order, but has said
he'd consider a less-draconian gag order permitting "limited" comments
to the press, and asked DuBois to draft one.

(Hora might want be seeking to prevent DuBois from commenting on matters
like this:  http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/05/reiser )


Judge Goodman handles felony trials for Dept. 9 of the Alameda County
Superior Court, in the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, 1225 Fallon Street
near 12th Stret, Oakland (lower edge of Lake Merritt).

As to jury selection, Reiser waived his statutory right to jury
selection within ten days, permitting Goodman to set up the conservative
"big spin" procedure whereby five panels of 100 potential jurors each
get questioned by both sides for suitability and bias.


Readers may be curious about our Constitutional right to "a speedy and
public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed":  The USSC ruled in Barker v. Wingo
(1972) that any trial delayed longer than _one year_ is presumed
excessive and prejudicial unless required to secure absent witnesses or
for other compelling practical reasons.  Also weighed are the degree to
which the defendant asserted his right to a speedy trial, and the degree
of prejudice that the delay has caused.  If excessive, such delay can
cause dismissal of charges, "since the delayed trial itself is the state
action which violates the defendant's rights, no other remedy would be
appropriate".


[1] Paul Hora is reported to be the son of Alameda County Judge Peggy
Fulton Hora.  See:  http://alamedacountyda.com/Nepotism.html



_______________________________________________
svlug mailing list
svlug at lists.svlug.org
http://lists.svlug.org/lists/listinfo/svlug

----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
-bill!
bill at newbreedsoftware.com
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/