Woman faces trial for allegedly murdering Wyoming man
GREG TUTTLE The Billings Gazette | Posted: Saturday, September 13, 2008 12:00 am
RED LODGE, Mont. (Lee News Service) - A Montana prosecutor said Thursday she would agree to provide information to a defense lawyer rather than further delay the murder trial of a Billings, Mont., woman accused of shooting a Wyoming man nearly four years ago.
During hearing before District Judge Blair Jones, Assistant Attorney General Barbara Harris said she disagrees with Bianca Wilson's defense lawyer, who claims that prosecution must give Wilson the criminal records of several key state witnesses.
Defense attorney Raymond Kuntz argued that prosecutors had failed to provide the information as required in an order issued by Jones in 2004. Kuntz filed a motion in July asking the judge to bar prosecutors from calling the witnesses at trial if they did not turn over the information.
At a hearing on the defense motion, Harris said the information sought by Kuntz is not in the state's case file. She said state law does not require prosecutors to gather information on behalf of a criminal defendant.
"I shouldn't have to do my job and their job as well," Harris told the judge.
Kuntz argued that an order issued by Jones specifically requires prosecutors to provide the information. Prosecutors are bound by the order, Kuntz said, and have not sought to modify it.
Jones told the attorneys he would need them to file new briefs on the issue before he could make a decision. That would likely prevent the case from going to trial as scheduled Dec. 8, the judge said.
Harris said she would provide the information to Kuntz within two weeks in order to prevent a delay of the trial.
Wilson, 27, is charged with deliberate homicide for the shooting death of Justin Marchant of Cowley, whose body was found Sept. 14, 2004, on a rural Carbon County road. Wilson was arrested three days later and was charged with the murder.
But seven months after Wilson was charged, prosecutors dismissed the case, saying they did not have enough evidence to convict her. Prosecutors preserved the right to refile the charge if new evidence surfaced.
Wilson later was convicted of felony tampering for hiding evidence connected to the murder. She is serving a five-year prison sentence for that crime.
The murder charge against Wilson was refiled May 29. In court records, prosecutors say several witnesses will testify that Wilson confessed to the murder.
Prosecutors allege that Wilson shot Marchant twice while the two were passengers in a car driven by another Billings man, Jesus Villarreal Jr.
Wilson claims it was Villarreal who shot Marchant because he believed Marchant was working for law enforcement as a drug informant.
During the hearing Thursday, Jones said he expects more motions to be filed before the case is ready for trial, including a defense motion asserting that Wilson's right to a speedy trial has been violated. A hearing on the status of pending pre-trial motions is scheduled for Nov. 3.
Kuntz and Harris also disagreed Thursday on how long the trial would last. Harris said the trial would take one week. Kuntz said it would take two weeks or longer.
"This is a big case," Kuntz told the judge.