CA - Korey Kauffman, 26, slain, 3 CHP officers, attorney charged, Turlock, 31 Mar 2012

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Judge will announce ruling next month in Korey Kauffman murder case

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article140434528.html

Nearly a year and a half after it began, the testimony and argument portion of the preliminary hearing against those accused in the death of Korey Kauffman came to a close Thursday afternoon. But the conclusion of the longest preliminary hearing in Stanislaus County history is still weeks away.

Judge Barbara Zuniga said she will decide on April 10 whether Modesto attorney Frank Carson and five others charged in the slaying should stand trial. The preliminary hearing in the case began in mid-October 2015, and rivals some lengthy preliminary hearings in state history.

 

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Record-setting murder prelim concludes with Carson, 3 others held for trial

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article143847184.html

At times during a nearly 18-month preliminary hearing, the judge said it felt like she was presiding over a trial made difficult with witnesses who struggled to remember details about an investigation that began five years ago. She also found it tough dealing with a group of “combative” attorneys, forcing the judge to read pages of testimony transcripts filled with arguments before she could get to a question and its answer from the witness.

“This case is not easy to decide,” Zuniga said before announcing her ruling Monday.

The judge ordered Carson and brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal to stand trial on charges of murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with Kauffman’s death. The 26-year-old man went missing in 2012; his body was found more than a year later in Mariposa County.

Zuniga, however, dropped all charges against Carson’s wife, Georgia DeFillipo and her daughter, Christina DeFilippo. The attorney’s wife was charged with murder. They were both charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and accused of being an accessory in the crime.

The judge said there was no evidence Georgia DeFillipo was involved in Kauffman’s death, even with the low standard of proof in a preliminary hearing. Zuniga said allegations the mother and daughter were part of a criminal conspiracy were based on text messages they exchanged with each other.

The judge told the attorneys that there was corroborated evidence that showed Carson confronting his neighbor, Michael Cooley, and threatening to shoot and kill anyone caught burglarizing his property. Whether that evidence will be sufficient to convict Carson and his co-defendants “We’ll have to see,” Zuniga said.

But Zuniga dropped a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait against Carson, Athwal and Atwal. The judge said the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence to support the defendants’ intent to kill when a scuffle began that led to the alleged deadly shooting.

Star witness Robert Lee Woody testified that Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal were fighting with Kauffman on Carson’s property moments before Daljit Atwal shot Kauffman to death. He also has claimed that Kauffman’s body was buried just outside the brothers’ Turlock liquor store before Kauffman’s body was unearthed and dumped in Mariposa County.

If Carson and the brothers are convicted of first-degree murder, they would face a maximum of 25 years to life in prison. If they’re convicted of second-degree murder, they would face a maximum of 15 years to life.

The judge said she had a tough time deciding whether former California Highway Patrol Officer Walter Wells should stand trial in the Kauffman murder case. Zuniga reviwed the evidence against Wells, more than the other defendants.

But Zuniga said the number of times Wells’ cell phone was activated in the same cell-phone tower sector as Kauffman’s phone after his disappearance indicated the prosecution’s belief that Wells was driving around with Kauffman’s cell.

She said there was sufficient evidence presented that supported a strong suspicion that Wells was part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice and acted as an accessory after Kauffman was killed. Zuniga said her ruling was based in part on Wells’ friendship with Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal and his frequent visits to the liquor store.

Wells was released from jail Dec. 13 on $50,000 bail after the prosecution said it would only seek felony obstruction and accessory charges. He no longer faces a murder charge in Kauffman’s death.

http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/15/article/34131/

Zuniga said that in making her decision she carefully considered the testimony from some of the prosecution’s key witnesses and concluded that even though some of the details and timing of event might differ from one witness to another, they all described similar events, especially in regards to the confrontations involving Carson. She said she also gave careful consideration to the testimony of Robert Lee Woody.

Woody, who was the first to be arrested for Kauffman’s killing, has agreed to a plea deal and has testified for the prosecution. During his testimony, Woody stated that Baljit Athwal caught Kauffman on Carson’s property and that he was fighting with him when Woody and Daljit Atwal arrived at the Ninth Street property. Woody said Daljit Atwal joined in the fight and fatally shot Kauffman. Woody testified that he helped bury Kauffman’s body in a field next to the Pop N’ Cork on East Avenue in Turlock, and that later he helped move it and leave it in the Stanislaus National Forest.

“I spent a lot of time on Mr. Woody’s testimony,” Zuniga said.

Zuniga said there was no doubt in her mind that Woody’s testimony had inconsistencies and she considered that he had even admitted to telling lies to the investigators, but in the end she felt his testimony was key.

“There is an overarching consistency to his testimony,” Zuniga said.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Carson murder trial set for June, but could be postponed

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article146509864.html

A judge on Monday scheduled a trial to start June 19 for Modesto attorney Frank Carson and two others charged with the murder of Korey Kauffman. But there’s chance the trial will be postponed because a new attorney is joining the case.

Two weeks ago, Judge Barbara Zuniga ordered Carson and brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal to stand trial on charges of murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice. On Monday, all three pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing.

Jai Gohel, a San Francisco-based attorney, has been hired to represent Baljit Athwal. The defendant was represented by Martha Carlton-Magaña during a preliminary hearing that went on for nearly 18 months, which became the longest preliminary hearing in Stanislaus County history.

Gohel said he will do his best to be ready for trial in June, but he will likely ask the court to postpone the trial to give him more time to get up-to-speed.

Judge Zuniga was forced to schedule the trial within 60 days because Carson refused to waive his right to a speedy trial. Gohel will have a chance to file a motion to delay the trial early next month.

Former California Highway Patrol Officer Walter Wells also was ordered stand trial in the Kauffman murder case. Wells is accused of being part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice and acting as an accessory after Kauffman was killed.

Wells will now be prosecuted separately, and he will get a new attorney. The court will appoint an attorney to represent Wells, who had hired Livermore-based Timothy Rien to represent him during the preliminary hearing.

Judge Zuniga scheduled Wells to return to court Thursday. His arraignment was postponed until the court appoints an attorney to represent him.

Wells will return to court later this week with co-defendants Eduardo Quintanar Jr. and Scott McFarlane, who are also being prosecuted separately in the Kauffman murder case. Quintanar Jr. and McFarlane, who are also former CHP officers, are accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice and being accessories.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Defendants in Kauffman killing will remain out of custody

http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/15/article/34324/

A judge has ruled that the three defendants accused of murdering Turlock resident Korey Kauffman will remain free from custody while awaiting trial.

Defendants Frank Carson, Baljit Athwal, and Daljit Atwal were released on their own recognizance in December after an issue with discovery was raised. Since then, the three men have been ordered to stand trial for the death of Kauffman and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office sought to have them remanded back into custody.

Zuniga said the three defendants have done nothing wrong since being released and will remain out of custody for the time being, unless circumstances change. The three men previously had to surrender their passports and were ordered to have no contact with one another and are searchable for weapons.

Former California Highway Patrol officer Walter Wells was ordered to stand trial for conspiracy and being an accessory after the fact. His case has been severed from Carson’s and the two brothers. Scott McFarlane and Eduardo Quintanar, also former CHP officers, are also charged with conspiracy and accessory. They have not had a preliminary hearing and have entered not guilty pleas to the charges.

Also on Monday the prosecution stated they had restructured a plea deal with Robert Lee Woody to give him credit while awaiting sentnecing. Woody, who was the first to be arrested for Kauffman’s killing, has agreed to a plea deal and has testified for the prosecution. During his testimony, Woody stated that Baljit Athwal caught Kauffman on Carson’s property and that he was fighting with him when Woody and Daljit Atwal arrived at the Ninth Street property. Woody said Daljit Atwal joined in the fight and fatally shot Kauffman. Woody testified that he helped bury Kauffman’s body in a field next to the Pop N’ Cork on East Avenue in Turlock, and that later he helped move it and leave it in the Stanislaus National Forest.

As part of the plea deal Woody agreed to testify in the preliminary hearing and the trial. In return he will be sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.

The defense was ready to argue their motion to have the case dismissed on prosecutorial misconduct, but Zuniga said she no longer had the authority to rule on that matter and that it would have to be argued before Monterey County Judge Robert Moody. Moody is already scheduled to hear arguments on whether or not Zuniga’s ruling to dismiss the special circumstances against the three men will stand. The prosecution claims the special circumstances are appropriate because they have accused the three men of lying in wait to kill Kauffman, but Zuniga said in her preliminary ruling that the evidence didn’t support that allegation. That matter is set for June 5.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Carson murder trial delayed until 2018

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article152050797.html

A judge on Monday rescheduled a trial to start early next year for Modesto attorney Frank Carson and two others charged with murder in the death of Korey Kauffman.

Judge Barbara Zuinga gave Jai Gohel, Baljit Athwal’s recently-hired attorney, seven months to get up to speed in what she called a “convoluted” murder case.

The judge on Monday afternoon rescheduled the trial to begin Jan. 8. Zuniga also scheduled the attorneys to begin their pretrial motions on Nov. 27, so the trial would be ready to start on time.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Attorneys argue over allegation that could lead to life in prison in Korey Kauffman murder

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article154498374.html

The defense on Tuesday asked a judge to drop an allegation that could result in a sentence of life in prison without parole if a jury convicts Modesto attorney Frank Carson and two others charged with murder in the slaying of Korey Kauffman.

When Judge Barbara Zuniga in April ordered a trial for Carson and brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal, she dropped a special circumstances allegation that Kauffman was ambushed when he was murdered.

Nevertheless, Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira added that special circumstances allegation against the three defendants. The law allows the prosecution to do that.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Attorney Frank Carson, co-defendants won’t face life in prison without parole

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article157245879.html

“In the present case, the evidence at the preliminary hearing is insufficient to support a strong suspicion that the alleged homicide occurred by means of lying in wait,” Moody wrote in his ruling. “Furthermore, the evidence does not support a strong suspicion that the person who purportedly lay in wait had an intention to kill.”

Without the special circumstances allegation, the defendants would face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. If they’re convicted of second-degree murder, they would face a maximum of 15 years to life. The defendants’ trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 8.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Frank Carson murder trial underway with defense focus on forensic evidence

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article209329799.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

Attorneys point out varying accounts from witness in Kauffman murder trial

http://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article209793739.html

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/15/article/36258/

Tuesday’s proceedings in the trial of Frank Carson, Baljit Athwal, and Daljit Atwal for the death of Turlock resident Korey Kauffman brought the jury the case of dueling detectives, with two private investigators giving completely contradictory testimony over tracking devices.

According to the prosecution, the tracking devices were used by Carson as he undertook his own investigation into the ongoing thefts that had been happening at his Turlock property. The defense contends Carson was studying the tracker in his role as a defense attorney in a criminal case.

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

Ex-CHP officer accused in Turlock murder case free to go. Then, DA filed new charge.

Judge Robert Moody on Monday granted defendant Scott McFarlane's motion, essentially overturning a ruling from Judge Barbara Zuniga, who ordered the former CHP officer to stand trial on the accessory charge. That meant the criminal case against McFarlane on Monday afternoon was over, and he was free to go, said his attorney Larry Niermeyer.

However, the case started all over again Tuesday morning, when the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office filed a new complaint against him. McFarlane's attorney says his client in the new criminal complaint faces the same charge he was accused of before.

Carson and his two co-defendants are currently standing trial on murder charges in Kauffman's death.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Carson and co-defendants post bail, avoid jail, in murder trial

The defendants’ trial began four months ago.

The defense attorneys, and the prosecutor and the judge spent Tuesday morning outside of the jury’s presence wrapped up in a defense motion that a prosecution witness was motivated to come forward by his desire to get a deal for his son, who was charged with burglary in another case.

The court was expected to take up the motion after lunch along with another motion. Because of that, the judge had the jury sent home.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Attorneys on Tuesday argued over the length of a trial that’s in its 10th month for Modesto attorney Frank Carson and two others accused of murder in the death of Turlock resident Korey Kauffman.

Testimony in the trial was expected to continue with Robert Lee Woody, who has testified that Daljit Atwal shot Kauffman during a confrontation with him and the defendant’s brother. The defense has challenged the credibility of Woody, who once claimed that he killed Kauffman and fed his remains to pigs.

When will the murder trial end for Modesto attorney Frank Carson, two co-defendants?

 

[JerseyGirl]

A judge reluctantly postponed a trial for a former California Highway Patrol officer accused of concealing a murder allegedly committed by three men who have since been acquitted of that crime.

Judge Barbara Zuniga sounded frustrated as she granted the prosecution’s request to delay the trial for Walter Wells, who faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and acting as an accessory in connection with the death of Turlock resident Korey Kauffman.

Wells’ trial was scheduled to begin with testimony next month. The prosecutor asked the judge to postpone the trial for three months.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 9 to determine whether the prosecution has any new evidence.

https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article233961547.html

 

[JerseyGirl]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.modbee.com/news/local/article243069521.html

In August 2015, Carson, and seven other people including his wife Georgia DeFilippo and stepdaughter Christina DeFilippo and Wells and McFarlane were arrested and charged in the murder of Korey Kauffman. Wells, McFarlane and fellow former CHP officer Eduardo Quintanar were accused of helping to cover up the murder by passing information to the other defendants.

Kauffman, 26, disappeared in spring 2012 and his remains were found more than a year later in a remote area of Mariposa County.

Only Carson and brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal ultimately were held to answer on murder charges and were acquitted in June 2019 at the conclusion of a trial that lasted more than a year.

The murder charge against Wells was dropped and he was the last remaining defendant in the case before prosecutors dropped accessory charges against him late last year. The case against McFarlane, who also faced an accessory charge, was dropped in October.