"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #2 on Jan 3, 2009, 4:08am »
January 3, 2009 Former Marine pleads not guilty to raping, killing college student
CNN) -- A former Marine and suspected serial rapist pleaded not guilty this week to raping and murdering 19-year-old college student Brianna Denison.
James Biela, 27, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the disappearance of Denison, who was last seen alive on her friend's sofa in Reno, Nevada, January 20, 2008.
The construction worker entered his plea in Washoe County District Court on Wednesday. Judge Robert Perry set a tentative trial date for February 22, 2010, according to online court records.
Denison, a sophomore at Santa Barbara City College in California, was visiting friends in her hometown of Reno when she disappeared. Three weeks later, her body was found in a field near her friend's home, partially covered with snow. An autopsy determined she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
A pair of panties that were not hers also were found near the body, in what police said was a "calling card" that helped them connect Biela not only to Denison, but also to another sexual assault.
In a press conference after Biela's arrest in December, police said they were able to connect the former Marine's DNA with a sample on the panties. Police also found DNA matching Biela's on the rear door of the off-campus house where Denison was staying with friends.
The sample also matched DNA found at the scene of a December 16 sexual assault, police said. The victim, a student at the University of Nevada , was able to escape her attacker and describe him in detail, police say.
Both crimes bear a striking resemblance to several other sexual assaults in the area, leading police to believe that Biela is a serial rapist. They are asking other possible victims to come forward.
The case went unsolved for almost 10 months until an anonymous tip from a friend of Biela's former girlfriend broke this cold case wide open, police said.
Investigators had established that the killer was from the Reno area and had an unusual fetish of collecting one victim's underwear and leaving it at the next victim's crime scene.
The tipster caught investigators' attention by telling them that Biela's former girlfriend had found two pairs of thong panties in his truck.
Detectives immediately followed up on the tip and, with permission from the former girlfriend, took DNA samples from Biela's 4-year-old son.
Lab tests showed that the boy's father -- Biela -- was almost certainly a match for the DNA found on the doorknob and at the crime scene, police said.
The finding was confirmed when Biela was arrested and ordered to submit DNA samples. An overnight session at the crime lab confirmed the match, and charges were filed, police said.
Investigators said they since have learned that Biela was familiar with the grounds of the university, having worked there on a construction job last year. Police say his work on campus put him in a position to easily target women.
When first questioned about the Denison case in early November, Biela refused to submit DNA samples and provided an alibi to police, saying he'd been with his girlfriend. The girlfriend denies that he was with her the night Denison disappeared, investigators said.
Calls to Biela's public defenders Friday were not answered.
Meanwhile, investigators are certain there are other victims who haven't come forward. Police are urging anyone with more information to call the Reno Police Hot Line at 775-322-4900.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #4 on Jan 26, 2009, 10:19pm »
4 factors for death sentence in Biela trial Jan. 8, 2009
Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick said Thursday his office will seek the death penalty against 27-year-old James Biela, charged with raping and killing Brianna Denison and sexually assaulting two other college students.
Gammick listed four aggravating factors he said prosecutors would prove to secure a death sentence against Biela: that Denison was sexually penetrated before, during or after she was murdered and that Biela committed three other felonies involving force against a person.
The felonies cited are the alleged sexual assault of two other women and alleged kidnapping of one of them, Gammick said. While four aggravators were listed, jurors need only to approve one to secure a death sentence, depending on mitigating factors. Lauren Denison, Brianna’s aunt, said the family did not have an opinion about whether a death sentence should be sought but supported the prosecution’s decisions.
“We have just set out to let the district attorneys do their work and let the justice system make sure justice is served,” she said in a telephone interview after Gammick’s announcement. “We were confident that they will do the right thing.”
Gammick said the county public defender office, which is representing Biela, submitted a list of mitigating factors to prosecutors at a meeting Wednesday. He wdould not reveal the list.
Washoe County Public Defender Jeremy Bosler was not available for comment. Denison, a 19-year-old sophomore at a Santa Barbara, Calif., college, disappeared from a friend’s house near the University of Nevada, Reno campus on Jan. 20. Her body was found Feb. 15 in a field in South Reno. She had been raped and was strangled with a pair of thong-style panties from the home, according to the autopsy report.
In November, a Secret Witness tip led investigators to Biela. A subsequent DNA sample connected him with the Denison murder and with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a university student in December 2007.
The woman testified during Biela’s preliminary hearing last month that Biela jumped her outside her apartment and forced her at gunpoint into his truck. She said she was sexually assaulted before he drove her back to her parking lot.
Another woman told police in late January that he raped her at a university parking complex in October 2007. No DNA evidence was collected in that case. Biela was arraigned Dec. 31, and pleaded not guilty to all five charges. Trial was set for Feb. 22, 2010.
Nevada statutes list 15 aggravators that can be used to secure a death sentence in a first-degree murder case, including torture of the victim, the killing of a law enforcement officer or a murder motivated by hate.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #5 on Jan 29, 2009, 2:46pm »
Accused killer, rapist seeks split trials
January 29, 2009
A man charged with the rape-murder of a California coed and the rape of two others plans to seek trials in each case, his lawyer says.
An effort also was expected to move the trial of James Biela out of Reno, Nev., where the body of Brianna Denison, a 19-year-old Reno native and sophomore at a Santa Barbara, Calif., college, was found, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
A trial is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2010. The prosecution says it will seek the death penalty.
The defense says intense publicity surrounding the death of Denison necessitates a change of venue.
Denison disappeared from the couch of a friend's home near the University of Nevada, Reno campus on Jan. 20, 2008. Her body was found Feb. 15 in a field in south Reno. She had been raped and strangled.
An anonymous tip led police to Biela, who later was also charged with kidnapping and sexual assault of a Nevada-Reno student and rape of another woman in a parking garage.
Each charge has a separate set of issues and set of facts, Richard Davies, Biela's lawyer, said of seeking separate trials. When they are all together, it tends to blur the whole story. It's easier for the jury to look at each count separately.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #6 on Mar 19, 2009, 10:34pm »
James Biela Requests New Attorney In Brianna Denison Murder Trial Mar 19, 2009
The man accused of raping and killing 19-year-old Brianna Denison, is asking for new representation.
27-year-old James Michael Biela filed a request Monday to remove his court-appointed public defender from the case. Currently, Richard Davies and Jay Slocum, both Washoe County Public Defenders, are assigned to represent Biela. According to court documents, Biela is "unhappy" with his attorneys. His request form states, "I am requesting a meeting with Judge Perry to discuss replacing my lawyers."
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at 1:30 to discuss the matter. Judge Robert Perry will have to decide whether a true conflict exists between Biela and his representation.
Under court regulations, Perry can only grant Biela a substitution attorney if he finds that the defendant are so at odds, that it would prevent adequate defense. The conflict must be more than just disagreement over strategy or tactics.
A court document signed by District Attorney Dick Gammick states that the prosecution doesn't know whether Biela has issue with his attorney, or with the Washoe County Public Defenders Office as a whole. The document states that Biela should not be given new attorneys, unless there is a legitimate conflict of interest.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #7 on Mar 31, 2009, 1:28am »
Biela's lawyers ask for three separate trials Mar. 30, 2009
The nationwide attention paid to the disappearance, rape and murder of Brianna Denison, coupled with the list of differences in the two other sexual assault cases for which James Biela is charged, are grounds for breaking the cases into three separate trials, his lawyers said Monday.
“We’re concerned that the publicity and the presumption of his guilt in the Denison case will overshadow the two other charges,” said Richard Davies, a deputy public defender who filed a motion Friday to split the cases. “For clarity, it would be better to sever the counts.”
Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler said he had not seen the motion, and declined to comment on the request.
“The state will review the motion and we’ll file an appropriate response,” Sattler said. “I will not discuss the merits of the motion. Issues like these should be decided in the courtroom, not in the press.”
The two sides are scheduled to argue the point at a hearing before Washoe District Judge Robert Perry on April 17. At present, Biela’s trial is set for Feb. 22, 2010. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Denison was a 19-year-old sophomore at a Santa Barbara, Calif., college when she was abducted Jan. 20, 2008, while sleeping on a friend’s couch in a house near the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
Her body was found in a south Reno field on Feb. 15, 2008. She had been raped, and was strangled with a pair of thong underwear.
A tip led police to Biela in November, and he was linked to two other cases. At a December preliminary hearing, he was bound over on rape and murder charges in the Denison case, kidnapping and sexual assault charges in the case of a woman abducted outside her apartment in December 2007, and the rape of a woman at a university parking garage in October 2007.
He has pleaded not guilty.
In his motion, Davies argued that the three attacks “occurred under remarkably dissimilar circumstances.”
In the first case, the woman said she was raped at gunpoint, and said her attacker wore a hood over his head, the motion said. Afterward, the woman went home and threw away her clothes. She did not report the alleged attack until Jan. 30, 2008, so no evidence was collected, the motion said.
In the second case, the woman was grabbed from behind outside her car and the forced to the ground, the motion said. The attacker forced her into his vehicle, drove her to an unknown location, and made her have oral sex, the motion said. He then returned her to her car and left.
Denison was missing for weeks before being found dead.
“Each crime is a separate assault that occurred one to two months apart, under substantially different circumstances,” the motion said. “Thus, as there is no evidence to show that three separate events are part of a common scheme or plan, (holding one trial) is not appropriate.”
In addition, since two of the five counts were part of highly publicized case in the Reno community, the motion said, and “the prejudicial effect of permitting a jury to decide the other allegations during the trial of the murder and sexual assault of Brianna Denison is extreme.”
“The murder and sexual assault charges are so highly sensitized in the area, the passions of the jury will likely be inflamed to such an extent that the jury cannot fairly assess the remaining counts,” the motion said. “There is a distinct possibility that the jurors will convict on the other three counts out of the hostility from the Denison case.”
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #8 on Aug 27, 2009, 8:37pm »
Reno man accused of rape, murder of Brianna Denison gets new lawyer
Posted: Aug 26, 2009
The man charged with raping and killing a college coed and sexually assaulting two other women near the University of Nevada, Reno has a new lawyer.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports Washoe County Chief Deputy Public Defender Maizie Pusich has taken over as lead attorney for James Biela. She replaces another public defender who left the office for private practice.
Biela faces a possible death sentence if convicted of raping and killing 19-year-old Brianna Denison.
Authorities say the 19-year-old Denison was abducted while sleeping on a couch at a friend's house in January 2008. Her body was found three weeks later in a vacant lot in southeast Reno.
Biela also is charged with two other sexual assaults near the UNR campus.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #9 on Oct 7, 2009, 5:52pm »
Judge won't delay murder trial in Denison case
Posted: Oct 7, 2009
judge in Reno has refused to postpone the trial for the man accused of killing Santa Barbara City College student, Brianna Denison.
The Judge ruled on Wednesday that the trial for James Biela will go on as scheduled beginning February 22.
Biela's attorney had asked for a three-month delay because she said she's struggling to read 35,000 pages of evidence.
The district attorney on the case said there still may be a delay if the defense is not ready by the start of the trial.
The man accused of killing Santa Barbara City College student, Brianna Denison wants to postpone his trial in Reno.
A hearing was set for today after a request by James Biela's lawyer.
Biela is charged with raping and killing the 19-year-old, who disappeared while sleeping on a friend's couch in her native Reno in January, 2008.
Her body was found nearly one month later in a vacant lot.
Biela is also charged with sexually assaulting two University of Nevada, Reno students.
He is scheduled to stand trial in February, 2010.
According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, defense lawyers say DNA evidence that could have been used in Biela's defense was destroyed at the Washoe County crime lab.
They want to prohibit any DNA evidence from samples that are no longer available from being used during trial.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #10 on Oct 12, 2009, 11:11am »
Reno advocates: DNA from all felony arrests could help catch serial offenders
October 11, 2009
In July 2002, James Michael Biela was arrested on charges of assaulting an ex-girlfriend with a knife during a drunken rage in Reno.
After that, he had no documented run-ins with law enforcement until November 2008, when he was arrested in a string of violent, unsolved serial crimes in Reno, including the rapes of two college women and the rape and strangulation of Brianna Denison, 19.
Officials say DNA links him to a December 2007 rape and the Denison slaying. But the alleged genetic connections were made only after a Secret Witness tip led detectives to Biela, who has pleaded not guilty and faces trial next year.
Had Nevada law required DNA be taken from all persons arrested on felony charges, a DNA link could have been made to Biela for the 2007 rape, about a month before Denison’s death, depending on criteria set forth in the law regarding the storage and removal of samples.
Victim advocates say killers likely would be arrested sooner, preventing them from committing further violence.
Saying they want to protect future victims, Denison’s friends and family are renewing their push for lawmakers to adopt “Brianna’s Law” to require DNA testing of everyone arrested for a felony. It is similar to “Katie’s Law” enacted in 2007 in New Mexico after the rape and murder of graduate student, Katie Sepich.
All persons arrested for federal crimes are mandated to submit their DNA for testing by a statute upheld in May by the Eastern District of California federal court. The Bring Bri Justice Foundation has teamed with Secret Witness and Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto to create a task force to explore how to get the law, or a form of it, passed in Nevada.
The effort was introduced during the last legislative session by Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, but died because of its more than $6 million projected cost. Felons are assessed a $150 DNA testing fee that officials say only 10 percent pay.
Bring Bri Justice Foundation members say “Brianna’s Law” would prevent violent crimes and repeat offending, exonerate the innocent and drastically reduce time and money spent on lengthy criminal investigations. Overtime for the Reno Police Department’s investigation into Denison’s death was more than $365,000.
Sgt. Chuck Lovitt, of the RPD robbery/homicide unit, said DNA immediately points detectives to a potential suspect in cases instead of having to chase false leads that cost time and money. But he cautioned that a suspect still has to be thoroughly investigated and isn’t arrested just because of a DNA match.
Critics say the law would be too expensive in this economic crisis, could violate civil rights because not all people arrested are convicted and that samples could be compromised to obtain personal medical information or discriminate against minorities. During a March legislative hearing, officials said that in 2007, more than 86,000 felony arrests were made in Nevada, with only 13,000 convictions.
Michigan passed Katie’s Law last year and now legislators there fear that because it was unfunded, samples won’t immediately be stored in databases, leaving criminals free on the streets while backlogs grow. Masto said the law has “clear positives” but the biggest challenge to Nevada is funding it.
“I am hoping we can work through the civil issues,” she said.
Lovitt said that if DNA was taken for arrests for gateway crimes that lead to more violent offenses, such as burglary, crimes will be prevented.
“We have an opportunity to significantly impact violent crime, but it won’t work unless it can handle the onslaught of work, otherwise the system will grind to a halt because it’s so overwhelmed,” he said.
Denison Foundation members said they are committed to finding a funding source for the law.
Currently, DNA is entered into the state and national databases only upon a felony conviction, which became a Nevada unfunded mandate in 2007.
Lee Rowland, coordinator the Northern Nevada ACLU chapter, said the law is a potentially unconstitutional solution, as is the process.
“Here in America, you are innocent until proven guilty,” she said. “This mandate would treat you like you are already convicted, and then pass the cost on to you just because you were arrested.”
Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said it will be a “balancing act” and that lawmakers will have to be convinced the public safety advantages outweigh privacy issues.
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“If you’re innocent, who cares if you have to give your DNA,” Leslie said. “But from a civil liberties side, the government has no right to take my DNA because a police officer arrested me. I work in the criminal justice system and am not soft on crime. But how would you feel if you were wrongfully arrested and your DNA was taken?”
Crime lab scientists say they don’t have the capability to know anything about a DNA sample other than the person’s gender. The samples do not have names, but are given a code of numbers for identification purposes. Other safeguards would be in place, Foundation members said, such as destroying samples if charges are dropped against arrestees, and criminal penalties associated with compromising samples.
“The Foundation’s guiding principle is to do everything possible to ensure that no other family, or individual, is forced to go through what Brianna and her family had to endure,” said Valarie Van Antwerp, vice president of the Denison Foundation. “This legislation is perhaps the most important step we can take. Taking DNA saves lives.”
Don Richter, founder and board member of Secret Witness, said he is unable to find a valid argument against the law, saying “any legislator who opposes this will personally wear the name of all future rape and murder victims.”
“The true cost of not having this is the loss of human lives, raped women and traumatized victims and families,” he said.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #11 on Nov 6, 2009, 4:52pm »
Biela trial for murder of Brianna Denison postponed so lawyer can better prepare
Nov. 6, 2009
A judge today granted a request by the lawyer for James Biela, charged with killing and raping Brianna Denison, to move his trial from February to May, after she argued that she took over the case late and needs more time to prepare.
Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler said prosecutors dont object to the change.
"We do not want to potentially create an issue that would be litigated 15 years from now," Sattler said. "To avoid problems in the future, a continuance is not unreasonable. If she needs the time, I believe her."
Washoe District Judge Robert Perry set the new trial date for May 10.
The two sides are now arguing over a motion filed by Pusich, claiming the Washoe County Crime Lab destroyed DNA evidence.
The hearing is expected to run through the afternoon.
Denison, 19, was visiting friends in January 2008 near the University of Nevada, Reno campus when she disappeared. He body was found two weeks later in a south Reno field.
Biela was charged in November with killing Denison, and with raping a UNR student at gunpoint in a university parking garage on Oct. 22, 2007, and with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a third woman on Dec. 17, 2007.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
In Memory of Brittany "BRITT" McGlone, Laci Rocha, Dru Sjodin and Brianna "BRI" Denison
Joined: Sept 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 8,443 Location: Raised in MS. Karma: 5,000
Re: 2010 trial date set for Brianna Denison Murder « Reply #12 on Nov 9, 2009, 11:03pm »
Judge considering crucial question over evidence in murder case
Nov. 9, 2009
Washoe District Court Judge Robert Perry will rule Monday on whether prosecutors can use DNA evidence in the case against James Biela, the man accused of a series of rapes and the murder of Brianna Denison.
Defense attorneys asked to have DNA evidence excluded, disputing the way it was processed at the Washoe County Crime Lab. Specifically, they were protesting the fact that technicians used virtually all of each of the samples, leaving no DNA evidence for them to retest.
But a DNA expert hired by the defense testified that he saw no reason to dispute the actual findings of the DNA tests, and said he did not believe the technicians acted in bad faith when they processed the evidence. Renee Romero, director of the Crime Lab, said the evidence was consumed in the process of comparing the DNA to national databases in an effort to pinpoint a suspect. And Romero said that is consistent with protocol at the Crime Lab.
Judge Perry will rule on Monday whether he will admit the DNA evidence at trial.
Also Friday, the judge granted a defense request for a delay in the trial, which was scheduled to begin February 22, 2010. Public Defender Maizie Pusich was assigned to the case in September after the original attorney left the public defender's office. Pusich told the court she needed more time to review more than 40,000 pages of evidence and to adequately prepare for the case.
Prosecutors did not object, and Judge Perry granted the request. The trial will begin on May 10, 2010. If convicted, Biela faces a possible death penalty.
"THE DEAD CANNOT CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE IT IS A DUTY OF THE LIVING TO DO SO FOR THEM" Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness These are the rights listed in the Declaration of Independence for each of us; EXCEPT IF YOU ARE MURDERED YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Someone took them and now THEIR RIGHTS ARE PROTECTED. is a tradgedy that doesnt help the victims or their families heal.
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