Feb. 28, 2023 10p
Update: Mistrial motion was withdrawn Wednesday, clearing the way for the resumption of opening statements Thursday at 9a. Attorneys worked out their differences.
(WGTD)---The Kenosha trial for the man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend moved into uncharted waters Tuesday, and as a result, was delayed.
Prosecutor Michael Graveley moved for a mistrial after a defense attorney in her opening statement suggested that the girlfriend could be responsible for the homicide. "There is no remedy at this point," said Graveley, as he asked for a new jury to hear the case. "I am telling the court that improper information has been provided because the court has not heard this in the way 'Denny' intended," he said.
“Denny” is a legal doctrine that requires a defendant to show in advance that a named third party could at least be plausibly responsible for the crime.
In opposing the mistrial motion, defense attorney Nicole Muller argued that her remarks were misinterpreted—that she only was attempting to show by referring to a text message that investigators had tunnel vision as they focused on Zachariah Anderson, the ex-boyfriend, as the prime suspect.
Anderson was eventually charged with stalking, homicide and hiding a corpse. The body of the victim, Rosalio Gutierrez, Jr., was never found.
Judge Bruce Schroeder sent the jury home Tuesday without allowing Muller to finish her opening statement.
Schroeder is expected to rule on the mistrial motion--or at least decide what's next--at a hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday.
This is Anderson's second trial. A mistrial over another evidentiary issue was declared at his first trial last year.
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