Meanwhile, in our biggest local murder case:
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"Attorneys for Steven DeMocker have renewed their call for dismissal of his murder case on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct, due process violations and "possible ethical violations," according to a motion filed with the court.

"The allegations come in a 21-page motion written by defense attorney Craig Williams. He claimed that the state's response to his original motion amounts to a "confession" of wrongdoing.

DeMocker, 56, is awaiting a retrial, currently set for September. He is accused of killing his ex-wife, Carol Kennedy, in 2008.

In the reply motion, Williams restated his major allegation: "The state illegally viewed and printed ex parte pleadings using the OnBase (computerized records) system. And not just a little. Not by accident. Not inadvertently."

Ex parte information is intended to be kept between one side, in this case, the defense, and the judge. Williams has produced copies demonstrating that the documents were so marked.

Williams asserted that the defense team's check of the computerized database records turned up 60 instances of such activity, and that the prosecution admitted to the violations. He quoted the state's response: "The State concedes that its employees viewed and/or printed the subject documents ... "

The response offered by Deputy Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane last month essentially said that a "computer programming oversight" allowed access via the OnBase document system to people who should not have had the right to see the sealed documents, and that there was no warning to those staffers that the documents were not to be viewed.

Williams pounced on that statement, writing, " ... this assumes a free-for-all at the County Attorney's Office, where there is no supervision nor oversight as to what documents are being viewed and/or printed."
--Prescott Daily Courier

Seems to me the defense is firing a shot across the judge's bow. They're saying that it's a reversable error. If the judge refuses the motion, let the trial go forward, and if DeMocker is convicted, it'll be the basis for an appeal. No judge wants to be reversed by an appellate court--looks awful on his/her record and compromises chances to be appointed to a higher court.

The prosecution has made an incredible botch of this case. A mistrial was declared last year. Local paper interviewed dismissed jurors. All of them said they thought the defendant was guilty, but the state had not made a convincing case.