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PostPosted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 6:18 pm 
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I'm tired of these delays. :roll I'll update when there's a concrete trial date next year.

September 23, 2016

The attorney for McStay family murder suspect Charles “Chase” Merritt told a San Bernardino Superior Court judge Friday he cannot begin trial until he finishes defending another client in a public corruption case, scheduled to begin Oct. 17 and last seven months.
[...]
Judge Michael A. Smith, who is also presiding [over both cases], scheduled Merritt’s next hearing for Oct. 21 for a case management conference.

Source: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20160 ... tion-trial


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:06 am 
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Tentative trial date set for McStay family murder suspect ‘Chase’ Merritt
By Joe Nelson | The Sun | July 21, 2017


A tentative trial date was set Friday in San Bernardino County Superior Court for Charles Ray “Chase” Merritt, charged in the bludgeoning deaths of a San Diego County family of four whose remains were found buried near Victorville in 2013.

Jury selection is scheduled for Sept. 18 and trial is tentatively set for Sept. 25.
[...]
Trial was delayed because Merritt’s attorney, Rajan Maline, has been tied up since Jan. 4 with the Colonies public corruption trial, in which he is representing one of four defendants. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin in that trial Aug. 14.

Maline said in a telephone interview Friday he anticipates that jury selection will begin as scheduled but will take some time. He said he doesn’t expect opening statements to begin until late October.

Maline expects the trial to last at least three months and probably longer.

The trial will be heard in Judge Michael A. Smith’s courtroom. Smith is the judge presiding over the Colonies trial.

More at link: http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20170 ... se-merritt


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:05 am 
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Trial date ‘solid’ for McStay family murder suspect, defense attorney says
By Joe Nelson | The Sun | August 24, 2017


A San Bernardino Superior Court judge on Friday set a Nov. 13 trial date for Charles “Chase” Merritt, charged in the bludgeoning deaths of a San Diego County family of four whose remains were found buried in the Mojave Desert, near Victorville, in 2013.

Merritt, 60, of Homeland, stands accused of the February 2010 beating deaths of Fallbrook residents Joseph McStay,  40, his wife, Summer, 43, and their two children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3. He was arrested and charged with the crimes in November 2014, nearly a year after the McStay family’s remains were discovered in San Bernardino County.
Merritt faces the death penalty if convicted.

During a pretrial hearing Friday, Judge Michael A. Smith ticked off a series of new court dates: a trial readiness hearing set for Sept. 21, a motions hearing for Oct. 30, another pretrial hearing for Nov. 9, and jury selection and trial for Nov. 13.

More at link: http://www.sbsun.com/2017/08/25/defense ... r-suspect/


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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 5:38 pm 
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Kind of a silly article, but it states a tentative trial date (again). :roll

San Bernardino judge allows McStay family murder suspect to have more case files in his cell
By Joe Nelson | San Bernardino Sun | January 12, 2018


A San Bernardino Superior Court judge ruled Friday that McStay family murder suspect Charles “Chase” Merritt will be allowed to have more of his case files in his jail cell than is normally allowed under policy.

In a motion filed with the court, Merritt’s attorneys sought a temporary injunction and temporary restraining order against the Sheriff’s Department, which operates county jails, after he was disciplined Dec. 31 for what they believed was Merritt having too many of his case files in his cell.
[...]
Smith scheduled Merritt’s next hearing, a trial setting conference, for Feb. 23. Trial is expected to get underway after Easter.

More at link: https://www.sbsun.com/2018/01/12/san-be ... -his-cell/


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 4:06 am 
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I was reading a blog and an attorney stated:

In San Bernardino County, the average wait for recent death penalty cases has been approximately six years from time of arrest to start of trial. For example, SBC death penalty defendants John Wayne Thomson and Harby Ausbon Burden each waited between seven and nine years before their cases were heard.

There have been only 13 executions in California since 1978, with 850 being sentenced to death in the same time period.

Meanwhile, there is some kind of hearing on May 15, 2018.


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PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2018 6:21 pm 
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San Bernardino judge delays ruling on bid to exclude key evidence in McStay family murder case
By Joe Nelson | San Bernardino Sun | May 4, 2018


A San Bernardino Superior Court judge on Friday postponed ruling on a defense motion to suppress business records that prosecutors allege show a financial motive for the slayings of the McStay family in 2010.

Judge Michael A. Smith said he would not rule on the request until just before trial commences in the death penalty case against Charles “Chase” Merritt, who faces four counts of murder in the slayings of his former business associate and three family members. Trial is scheduled to begin on July 30.

Among the evidence Merritt’s attorneys are trying to quash are the QuickBooks accounting records of McStay family patriarch Joseph McStay that show that Merritt began writing multiple checks from the account to himself and cashing them beginning on Feb. 5, 2010, the day after the McStay family was last seen alive.

More at link: https://www.sbsun.com/2018/05/04/san-be ... rder-case/


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:25 pm 
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Postponement pushes trial in McStay slayings again; testimony not set until January
By Teri Figueroa | The San Diego Union-Tribune | July 22, 2018


Just as trial for a man accused of killing a Fallbrook family of four was about to start, it’s been postponed again.

Jury selection was supposed to begin at the end of July in the quadruple-homicide trial facing Charles “Chase” Merritt, who is accused in the beating deaths of business associate Joseph McStay, McStay’s wife and their two preschool-aged sons.

Now, jury selection is set to start Oct. 29 in San Bernardino Superior Court. That’s roughly five years since the family was found in shallow graves in the San Bernardino County desert in November 2013.

More at link: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/new ... story.html


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:40 pm 
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Isn't the California justice system just super duper extra special?


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2018 9:33 pm 
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Defense attorney claims another business associate of Joseph McStay was complicit in killing family
A judge, however, limited what can be presented about him during upcoming trial
By Joe Nelson | San Bernardino Sun | Updated: November 30, 2018


A San Bernardino Superior Court judge presiding over the trial of McStay family murder suspect Charles “Chase” Merritt ruled Thursday that certain evidence pointing to another suspect cannot be presented to the jury. ...He faces the death penalty. Jury selection in his trial is now underway, and opening statements are scheduled to begin Jan. 7.
[...]
Also on Thursday, Smith was asked by the prosecution to limit TV and still cameras in the courtroom during trial. While not seeking to ban the media from trial coverage, prosecutors noted the heavy publicity the case has received and the possibility cameras could be too disruptive and have a “prejudicial impact” on the trial.

Smith denied the motion, saying press photography and video coverage during trial could be done in a way that wouldn’t interfere with the proceedings. He said a “pooling” arrangement, in which one designated videographer and still photographer share their footage and photos with other members of the news media, may be in order.

More at link: https://www.dailybulletin.com/2018/11/2 ... -killings/


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:46 pm 
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The trial actually started Monday. :94

The prosecution opened with a motive of money, financial gain by Merritt.

The defense's case seems to be that the first county investigating, botched the case treating it as a missing persons' case, and also Merritt is the wrong man, pointing the finger at McStay's business partner as the murderer.

I don't know what the estimated length of trial is, yet. Law & Crime Network is carrying the trial live and also has a playlist (link below) with videos added daily.

Law & Crime Network - playlist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoW1SIeAWaWbwJ1vHpbDdmaU11eqbo5WQ


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 5:42 pm 
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For someone who supposedly had end-stage whatever organ failure a couple of years ago, he sure looks healthy.

He needs to spend 4 years buried in the dirt.

That'll fix him.


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