The attorney for one of two gay men charged with raping and murdering a 13-year-old boy says he needs more time to prepare a defense and wants the case slowed down.
Tim Buckley represents Davis Don Carpenter, Jr. He tells Conservative News Service he wants more time to prepare arguments against bringing evidence to a jury. Carpenter and Joshua Macave Brown are charged with capital murder and rape in the September 1999 death of Jesse Dirkhising. They face trial in April and the death penalty if found guilty.
CNS also says Buckley has asked the court to have the state medical examiner's office preserve bodily fluids gathered at the crime scene in case further independent testing is needed. Buckley also tells the news service pre-trial publicity, based on evidence he calls leaked by the state, makes it impossible for his client to get a fair trial in Benton County.
"The judge ordered the facts constituting probable cause to be sealed but somebody ignored his order and gave this information to the press, which substantially prejudiced our client from the very beginning," Buckley tells CNS. "Because ever since then, anytime anything is done in this case - if we file whatever kind of motion - it's a chance for the press to recount the whole story again, according to information that was leaked initially."
Dirkhising allegedly was drugged, bound, gagged, and raped repeatedly at the apartment Carpenter and Brown shared, CNS says. A medical examiner said Dirkhising suffocated because of the position in which he was left.
Brown's attorneys have filed change of venue motions formally, and Buckley tells CNS he's anticipating doing likewise. The defense has also filed a motion for postponement of a suppression hearing Jan. 28. Buckley says the defense wants to examine all the state's evidence before "critical decisions in the case" are made.
Buckley also wants the sheriff's department to stop transporting Carpenter and Brown to and from court in bulletproof vests, he tells CNS, because that give the impression of guilt without trial and evidence.
