TUCSON — A lawyer defending a man who was declared suspicious in the 2014 Tucson murder of 6-year-old Isabel Celis in the death of a teenage girl says the judge was biased against him bottom.
A motion filed by attorneys to change the judge was rejected in Pima County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Christopher Clements, 41, who was charged with kidnapping and killing 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez in 2014, was convicted on September 30 and sentenced to 17 years for kidnapping the teenage victim. In addition to the prison sentence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. A series of life sentences.
He was tried for the second time in February for the kidnapping and murder of Celis. When the jury could not agree on a first-degree murder verdict, Judge James Marner declared the trial erroneous.
Celis disappeared from her bedroom in 2012, but her body was found in 2017 when Clements brought authorities to a remote area of Marana, just north of Tucson.
Citing an article in the Arizona Daily Star, after the mistrial in February, lawyers allege that the judge showed prejudice and prejudice against Clements.
After the trial, the judge went to speak to the jury and thanked them for their service.
The article reported that a deadlock occurred when one juror refused to vote for a guilty verdict.
“They (the jurors) said they weren’t even sure to know about Clements’ previous conviction in Maribel’s death – jurors said they weren’t sure until Marner provided them with details after the acquittal was declared. I didn’t know – I would have changed my mind about holdouts,” said the article.
Clements’ attorney said the issue of argument between the judge and jury referred to “negative” information withheld from the jury and could have convicted Isabel’s father, Sergio Celis. No other information was mentioned.
“Judge Marner should have said nothing to the jury about the facts that were withheld from them,” Clements’ attorneys argued in court documents.
High Court Judge Renee Bennett, who oversaw Wednesday’s replacement hearing, said the evidence failed to show the judge was biased against Clements. commented on information that has already been publicly recorded and widely disseminated.
After a miscarriage of justice was declared in February, the Pima County attorney’s office said it would retry Clements with a new jury.
A status hearing to discuss what happens next is scheduled for May 2 at 9:00 am in Pima County Superior Court.
Please contact the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com.
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