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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE STATE OF OREGON
FOR CLACKAMAS COUNTY
|State of Oregon, |) | |
|Plaintiff, |) |Case No: CR1201792 |
|vs. |) | |
|Lynn Edward Benton, |) |MOTION FOR A TRIAL SETTING IN FEBRUARY 2015 OR LATER |
|Defendant. |) | |
| |) | |
| |) | |
| |) | |
| |) | |
| |) | |
I. Motion
COMES NOW Defendant, Lynn Edward Benton, by and through Counsel, Patrick John Sweeney and Dianna J. Gentry, who respectfully moves this Court for an Order setting a trial for this matter in February 2015 or later. In support of this Motion, the defense relies on the attached affidavits of Patrick John Sweeney, Dianna J. Gentry, and Mark Robertson, the facts and arguments contained in this Motion and any additional information provided at the hearing on this matter.
II. FACTS AND ARGUMENT
On June 24, 2011, Susan Ellen Campbell was indicted on one count of Aggravated Murder. Her trial was scheduled to begin on January 8, 2013; 20 months from date of arrest. On November 9, 2012, Campbell pled guilty to attempted aggravated murder as part of a cooperation agreement with the government to testify and provide evidence against Lynn Benton and Jason Jaynes.
The state continued to investigate following Campbell’s plea. That investigation has been extensive, including: (1) a minimum of fifty witness interviews conducted by police since November 2012; (2) additional witnesses and interviews associated with State v. Jason Jay Jaynes, Clackamas County Case No. CR 1301620 that relate to this case; and (3) additional witnesses and interviews associated with State v. Roy Benton, Multnomah County Case No. 130934321 that relate to this case.
On November 8, 2012, Lynn Edward Benton was arraigned on an indictment charging a capital crime. On November 9, 2012, I was appointed as lead-counsel. To date the state has provided the defense with more than 13,000 pages of paper discovery and an additional 235 CDs and DVDs with hours and hours of materials. The paper discovery includes police and investigation reports from at least sixteen different agencies, with more than six dozen report writers including officers, detectives, and forensic experts, including: Oregon City PD; Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office; Gladstone PD; Milwaukie PD; West Linn PD; Clackamas County Medical Examiner’s Office; Oregon State Police; Oregon State Police Forensic Services; Molalla PD; Sandy PD; Canby PD; San Diego Sheriff’s Department; Clackamas County Special Investigation Unit; Lake Oswego PD; Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office; and the Portland Police Bureau.
Based on my review of discovery, the state’s investigation began on May 28, 2011, and has continued through November 2013, a total of thirty (30) months, and is ongoing; the defense received witnesses recorded statements as recently as November 25, 2013.
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Currently, the defense has begun our document collection with a subpoena duces tecum date of January 10, 2014. For almost a year, team members, including a paralegal, have met with or attempted to meet with, Mr. Benton, at least twice per week to review the 235 CDs and DVDs. To date, we have reviewed 103 CDs/DVDs with Mr. Benton. It is unknown how long it will take to review the remaining 132 CDs/DVDs.
Both the defense and the state agree this is an unusually complicated and involved case with an unusually large amount of discovery. Thus, it would seem reasonable to assume that this case would be given a trial setting that would reflect the usual circumstances that require more time than the typical case.
The defense reviewed all of the Clackamas County capital cases in the past ten years to try to determine what is “typical” and what is “unusual” for time given to defense counsel to prepare for trial. The following information regarding the following cases demonstrates that the defense’s request in this matter is not all that long or unusual:
State v. Adrian Nickelson (CR0301423) – pled at 41 months
State v. Ashley Kooken (CR0301424) – pled at 24 months
State v. Absalon Pech-Canul (CR0500102) – pled at 27 months
State v. Victor Perez-Chi (CR0500103) – convicted at trial; trial started at 33 months
State v. Wendell Tate (CR0700655) – convicted at trial; trial started at 24 months
State v. Robert Bettelyoun (CR0700911) – convicted at trial; trial started at 33 months
State v. Gilberto Arrellano-Gamboa (CR0701230) – pled at 24 months
State v. Michael Washington (CR0701950) – convicted at trial; trial started at 27 months
State v. Shirleen Stafford (CR0701951) – dismissed at 29 months
State v. Donald Cockrell (CR1000057) – convicted at trial; trial started at 41 months
In the present case, the defense seeks a trial setting in February 2015 or latter. At that time the case will be 27-months old, which does not appear to be unusually long in Clackamas County; there are seven cases listed-above that had the same or more time than the defense is requesting in this matter. The defense needs the time requested (and possibly more) to adequately prepare for trial in this matter. Because the date requested by the defense is not usually long in this county for a capital case and given the complexity of the investigation (30 months in length and counting) and amount of discovery (13,000 pages, 235 CD/DVDs and counting) the request is reasonable.
The state is seeking a setting sometime in September 2014. At that time the case would only be 22 months old. There are ten cases listed-above that had more time that the state is requesting. The state has given no justification for it requesting of a trial date with a shorter duration than many others it has prosecuted.
III. CONCLUSION
Because of the unusual complexity and voluminous discovery in this matter, the defense should be afforded at least until February 2015 to prepare for trial in this matter. Any trial date prior to that time would not provide an adequate opportunity for then defense to review the materials and prepare a defense in this matter.
DATED: December 10, 2013.
Patrick John Sweeney, OSB#961200
Attorney for Lynn Edward Benton
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