[svlug] Reiser trial delayed again, to Sept. 2007 at earliest

[Darlene Wallach]

Rick Moen wrote:
> 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
> 

Rick,

Thank you very much for keeping us updated on Hans
Reiser!

Darlene Wallach