The defense witness is identified in court papers only as “Witness X,” and has new information about the Dec. 5, 2007, beating death of Forest Clayton Salcido, according to a defense motion.
“This young man has some very interesting information to add to the alleged events of December 5/6,” public defense attorneys Chris Daly and Paulette Ferguson wrote in the brief seeking the immunity.
Under Montana law, a judge can grant immunity before compelling a witness to testify when the testimony is personally incriminating. The judge can also force the witness to testify without immunity.
“The defendant would submit that in the search for the truth of what happened that night last December, Witness X should be heard by the jury and should be granted immunity from prosecution for any testimony he should give in this case,” according to the brief.
Daly and Ferguson raised the issue of immunity at a pre-trial conference in Missoula District Court on Thursday. St. Dennis' trial, previously slated to begin in August, has been moved to Sept. 26 to accommodate the schedule of an expert defense witness.
Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg has not yet responded to the defense motion, but intends to oppose any legal immunity, according to another state prosecutor.
District Judge John Larson suggested an in-chambers review of Witness X's potential testimony before ruling on the motion.
“That's only my seat-of-the-pants suggestion here today,” Larson said, adding that he's not aware of any legal precedent by which to pattern the closed-doors review.
Daly and Ferguson agreed with the judge's proposal, but emphasized their concerns about sharing any information about Witness X with Van Valkenburg, because it could lead to criminal charges before Larson has a chance to rule on the motion.
St. Dennis, who has a criminal record as both a juvenile and an adult, is being held on $500,000 bail in the Missoula County Detention Facility.
Strahan is held on $250,000 bail, and is scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 24.
His public defense attorneys explained in a recent court memorandum that they intend to mount a self-defense case for Strahan, saying he “used force in defense of another.” They will also present “good-character” evidence at trial.
According to court records filed by Van Valkenburg, Strahan reported the fatal attack to police after reading news reports the next morning. Those same records say that Strahan admitted taking part in an unprovoked attack on Salcido, but concede that he may have played a lesser role than his co-defendant.
Larson recently denied a defense motion to transfer the case to another jurisdiction or venue. Defense lawyers for St. Dennis argued that a jury pool far removed from the local media's extensive coverage of the alleged homicide would be less prejudicial and more fair-minded.
Instead, Larson has allowed attorneys on both sides to survey the potential jury pool of 250 Missoula residents. Those jurors have received questionnaires in the mail inquiring about any prejudices they might have.
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