ChicagoAvenger
05-14-2009, 06:00 AM
Judge refuses to send Rosedale rape trial out of county
Wednesday, May 13 2009 12:05 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, May 13 2009 12:08 PM
http://nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/6LGR5Bo9OjJZ2M/1.jpg
The man accused of kidnapping a woman from a Rosedale shopping center and raping her will be tried in Kern County, a judge decided Wednesday.
Deputy Public Defender Paul Cadman failed to convince Judge Gary T. Friedman that pretrial publicity was too prejudicial for Anthony Ray Graham Jr. to receive a fair trial in Kern County.
The judge said Graham could raise the issue again if the actual jury selection became too difficult.
Cadman argued that the publicity has pitted the 28-year-old Graham as a black man from Los Angeles against the victim, a presumably white woman from the affluent Rosedale area.
He also argued statements of District Attorney Ed Jagels, Bakersfield Police Chief Bill Rector and the prosecutor in the case -- Lisa Green, who is running to be the new district attorney -- have suggested the case is solved and Graham is guilty.
Green argued that the case has received relatively minimal publicity, which has generally been factual. She said the issue is not whether potential jurors know about the case, but whether they can be fair in deciding it.
Cadman's complaints were:
* Rector has been quoted as saying the case is "solved." Green said that merely means an arrest was made.
* Jagels has said there was a DNA match. Green said that evidence will be presented during the trial.
* Green said the case is "as serious as it gets" and victim is "extremely credible." Green said she stands behind those remarks.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news_alerts/x339728972/Judge-refuses-to-send-Rosedale-rape-trial-out-of-county
Wednesday, May 13 2009 12:05 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, May 13 2009 12:08 PM
http://nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/6LGR5Bo9OjJZ2M/1.jpg
The man accused of kidnapping a woman from a Rosedale shopping center and raping her will be tried in Kern County, a judge decided Wednesday.
Deputy Public Defender Paul Cadman failed to convince Judge Gary T. Friedman that pretrial publicity was too prejudicial for Anthony Ray Graham Jr. to receive a fair trial in Kern County.
The judge said Graham could raise the issue again if the actual jury selection became too difficult.
Cadman argued that the publicity has pitted the 28-year-old Graham as a black man from Los Angeles against the victim, a presumably white woman from the affluent Rosedale area.
He also argued statements of District Attorney Ed Jagels, Bakersfield Police Chief Bill Rector and the prosecutor in the case -- Lisa Green, who is running to be the new district attorney -- have suggested the case is solved and Graham is guilty.
Green argued that the case has received relatively minimal publicity, which has generally been factual. She said the issue is not whether potential jurors know about the case, but whether they can be fair in deciding it.
Cadman's complaints were:
* Rector has been quoted as saying the case is "solved." Green said that merely means an arrest was made.
* Jagels has said there was a DNA match. Green said that evidence will be presented during the trial.
* Green said the case is "as serious as it gets" and victim is "extremely credible." Green said she stands behind those remarks.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news_alerts/x339728972/Judge-refuses-to-send-Rosedale-rape-trial-out-of-county