Lawyers demand mistrial or dismissal over withholding of evidence
A judge on Friday took under submission a request by defense attorneys to either dismiss charges or declare a mistrial in a murder case where the prosecutor was late in turning over a jailhouse statement allegedly made by one of the defendants.
Lawyers for defendants Stacey Ann Perryman and Bryan David Denton demanded the action on grounds that they may have changed their trial strategies had Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall provided them with the statement before the trial began last week.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Russell L. Hom agreed with attorneys Jennifer Mouzis for Perryman and Laurance S. Smith for Denton that Denton’s jailhouse remarks relayed to authorities by a former cellmate were “exculpatory” for both defendants.
