RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
Judge denies defense request to dismiss Brothers case
| Thursday, Apr 19 2007 10:35 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Apr 19 2007 10:41 PM
The judge in the Vincent Brothers murder trial denied a defense motion to dismiss the case Thursday then oversaw an at-times fiery debate over jury instructions.
BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS:
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Brothers' attorney Michael Gardina said based on a geographer's testimony, Brothers could not have driven within the time frame presented by the prosecution.
The prosecutor has argued Brothers drove from Ohio to Bakersfield to kill his family and then drove back July Fourth weekend 2003.
Gardina said Brothers would have had to continuously race at speeds topping 100 miles per hour for 22 hours to get back to Ohio.
"The only way you could do that is to have an air tanker refueling that car," he said. "Nobody could drive a car that way."
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green believes Brothers killed his wife, Joanie Harper; their three children, Marques, Lindsey and Marshall; and Joanie Harper's mother, Earnestine.
Gardina said Green's "entire" case rests on circumstantial evidence.
Brothers has pleaded not guilty; it's not clear if he will testify.
Gardina also said local eyewitnesses who say they saw Brothers in town around the time of the killings could only claim "glances" or "a four-second identification" of him.
But Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael G. Bush tossed out the defense motion.
Jury instructions
Bush and the attorneys also discussed what kinds of instructions can be given to the jurors once closing arguments end around early May.
For example:
* Describing Brothers as "defendant" versus "alleged perpetrator."
* Whether one witness's testimony that she saw another witness near the crime scene can be accepted while comments about that witness's moral character should be rejected.
* Whether any of the slayings should be considered for sentencing as second- or first-degree murder.
* Whether to grant Brothers attorney Anthony Bryan's request to give the jury the definition of annulment.
Bryan said Green has frequently referred to Brothers' infidelity in arguing he was not a loving husband and father, even though Joanie Harper had her first marriage to Brothers annulled in 2001.
"It is not a dissolution, it is not a divorce, it is a nullity," Bryan boomed. "It never happened, and therefore you cannot be guilty of any adultery."
Green was not happy.
"I definitely object to giving a definition of annulment. It's mixing up apples and oranges," she said.
"The relevance of the evidence is that during the time of the marriage, he cheated on his wife."
Brothers and Harper remarried in 2003.
The jury was not present during Thursday's discussions. The jury trial will resume Monday.