Defense moves for mistrial again in Richmond Hill trial
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WISH) – Court was adjourned for the day Wednesday in the Richmond Hill trial, before testimony even began for jurors.
Judge John Marnocha said he’d consider a request from the defense for a mistrial, after they said the state should have told them sooner about miscalculations they found from one of the state’s witnesses when it comes to gas flow.
Defense attorney Diane Black said the state didn’t inform them when they first learned about a potential problem, adding, the state has a “duty to inform us and the court that evidence has changed.” She added, “our client has been placed in peril” because this information is “vital.”
Prosecuting attorney Denise Robinson said as soon as she’d identified the issue, she passed it on to the defense.
Robinson explained she was looking over two reports on gas flow while she was preparing for the trial, one by Michael Sullivan with Citizens Energy, and another by Dr. David Sheppard with the ATF. She said it was at that point she realized she couldn’t “reconcile” them. Robinson said, since she’s not an expert, so she asked the two experts about it.
Robinson said she found out on June 12 from Dr. Sheppard that he had identified a problem with his calculations of gas flow. Sheppard told her he had not used a “correction factor” or another calculation that was needed, so his numbers were different.
Sheppard is calculating the minimum time period it would take for gas in a home to reach flammable levels: or when it would be able to ignite.
Prosecutors will work to prove Mark Leonard and several others plotted to fill Monserrate Shirley’s home on Fieldfare Way with gas, then spark an explosion with a microwave and cylinder.
Witnesses with Citizens Energy have already testified the amount of gas in the home was equal to three tons of TNT.
Some of the prosecution’s witnesses will testify about the role gas played in the explosion, including Sheppard.
Robinson said Sheppard’s original report said the minimum time for the gas in the home to reach flammable levels would be 5.8 hours.
With this new report, she says that changes to about three hours (the minimum amount of time it would take for gas to reach flammable levels). The judge asked if that changes his conclusion, and Robinson replied, ‘no.’
She said it doesn’t change the range of time it would take to reach flammable levels, or the maximum amount of time, which is upwards of nine.FULL COVERAGE | Read more about the Richmond Hill explosion and criminal cases
Robinson said this is still within their Friday and Saturday time frame of when this all happened, leading up to the explosion at 11:10ish.
Judge John Marnocha said in court, “It is clear that this explosion, ground zero if you will, was the 8349 address. And, based on what I heard so far, it is clear that the explosion inside that home was caused by natural gas.”
He added, “Whether this house filled up with gas in one hour or ten hours, how does this affect Mr. Leonard’s culpability in this case?”
The defense attorney said she’d like a little more time, saying “it’s more complicated than that” and “it’s not that simple.”
Judge John Marnocha took a five-minute break after that discussion, then came back and told them it’s “premature of me to make a final decision on the defense request.” He said he would adjourn court until Thursday morning, to give the defense time to consult with their expert witness on the matter.
Marnocha then brought the jury out, told them he had a matter to deal with, that something had come up, and they could not proceed with evidence Wednesday.
He sent the jury home for the day and told lawyers to be back Thursday at 9 a.m.
After court was adjourned, both the defense and prosecuting attorneys spoke with reporters.
“We allege the due process violation. It’s one of our most fundamental constitutional rights when we’re accused of a crime and are going to trial. I’m very thankful the judge took this seriously like we do, and has given us time to fully brief this and make sure our client’s rights are protected,” said Defense attorney Diane Black.
“I think what the judge did is a smart thing. I think it protects the record; I think it gives the defense additional time to consult with their expert. Obviously as we noted in court, we found an issue with the ATF report. We notified the defense. We didn’t find the issue until June. So we recognize the defense has the right to look at this inofrmation. this gives them that right,” said Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Denise Robinson.
“I’m the one who brought it up. I found it when I was consulting, I made that clear on the record. The defense had the same information I have. I was looking at it as an attorney, and I couldn’t reconcile the two reports. I brought it to our experts’ opinion, to their attention, so they could assess it. It took them awhile to find it, and as soon as they identified the issue, I passed it along to the defense. That’s the right thing to do. We don’t hide the evidence and wait till the trial is over with, and then say here it is,” said Robinson.
Robinson said she doesn’t believe this will affect the case, and will only set them back a day.
“The recalculation with the new flow rate still puts us within the same time frame of where we were before. It adjusts slightly that time frame, but it still falls squarely within that Friday Saturday time frame,” said Robinson.