Archive for the 'Life in trial' Category
December 11th, 2008, 1:21 pm by Nick R. Martin
 A videotape has been playing for hours of Dale Hausner’s lengthy interrogation by Phoenix police detective Clark Schwartzkopf, which took place shortly after he and his roommate were arrested in August 2006 on suspicion of the Serial Shooter killing spree.
Just before the lunch break today, Hausner turned to the gallery, where this reporter was sitting, grinned and gave a thumbs up.
This action came after some pretty bizarre footage of Hausner talking about his fascination with infamous American serial killers, as well offering up alternate theories about who was behind the killings. Hausner said nothing when he flashed the thumbs up, only nodded up and down. A short time later, a deputy led him calmly out of the courtroom into a holding cell.
It’s not clear why Hausner made this motion of approval. Prosecutors have accused him of being a narcissist. So it’s possible he just likes the attention.
Submitted photo. Dale Hausner, the Serial Shooter suspect, is shown here in this undated photo, wearing a tuxedo and flashing a thumbs up.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Life in trial • Prosecution • Clark Schwartzkopf • phoenix • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
December 9th, 2008, 1:45 pm by Nick R. Martin
The secret recording of Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman will likely be hard for the jury to ignore, but it almost didn’t make it into the trial at all. More than a year ago, Hausner’s defense team started trying to get the recordings thrown out, saying they were illegal because they were obtained without a search warrant.
At issue was the somewhat unconventional way that authorities went about getting approval to plant bugs in the car, apartment and telephones of the Serial Shooter suspects. Instead of going to a judge and getting a warrant, authorities went to Maricopa County’s chief prosecutor, Andrew Thomas, for what’s known as an “emergency” wiretap. Under state law, an elected prosecutor can OK the secret wiretap under dire circumstances. Once it’s approved, a judge must sign off on the already-planted bugs within two days.
Hausner’s defense team basically said the procedure was unconstitutional. The issue even became political as one of Thomas’ challengers prior to his re-election in November said the prosecutor put the entire case in jeopardy by approving this unusual procedure.
The defense ended up forcing a series of hearings on the recordings, which peaked in April with dramatic testimony from Thomas himself in which he said he approved the emergency wiretaps to “stop the killing.”
Eventually, in June, Steinle approved the wiretaps, giving jurors the change to hear the recordings.
Today, those wiretaps will be heard in public for the first time as prosecutors begin to present hours of the recording, beginning any minute now.
Photo by pool photographer. Dale Hausner, left, listens to testimony with one of his attorneys, Timothy Agan, in October.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Defense • Judge Steinle • Jurors • Life in trial • Prosecution • Samuel Dieteman • Andrew Thomas • maricopa county • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
December 1st, 2008, 11:53 am by Nick R. Martin
Clocking in at three months so far, the trial of Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner has already lasted far longer than the average capital case in the Valley. It’s been a grueling process, with prosecutors spending nearly two months questioning witness after witness about every shooting, stabbing and arson charged to Hausner.
In an April letter (PDF) to Judge Roland Steinle, the defendant himself acknowledged that the case against him is enormous. “The state has between 500 and 1,000 police officers working against me, not to mention the prosecutors, all their legal staffs, and now Sam Dieteman’s team as well, since he has turned states evidence against me,” Hausner wrote. He was asking the judge to assign another lawyer to help defend him, but according to court documents (PDF), Steinle denied it.
While more than 100 witnesses have testified so far, only three have been able to connect Hausner to any of the crime scenes. The evidence against Hausner during the trial so far has been slight, but that’s expected to change as prosecutors today move into the second phase of their case today. Prosecutors have spent the morning talking to the last witnesses in the “scenes” part of the case, which documented the scenes of every one of the 87 crimes charged to Hausner.
The next phase will be all about the hunt, so to speak. Detectives and investigators are expected to spend massive amounts of time testifying about how they came to suspect Hausner and Dieteman were the suspects in the 14-month string of serial killings and attacks. Among the evidence will be hours of secret audio recordings that detectives obtained of the two men reportedly talking about the crimes.
If all goes according to the prosecution’s plan, the complicated case will become a lot simpler after the next phase of the trial comes to a close.
Image above is excerpted from a June 2008 letter Hausner wrote to the judge.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Judge Steinle • Life in trial • Prosecution • Samuel Dieteman • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
November 20th, 2008, 1:31 pm by Nick R. Martin
Even the most-scripted trials run into a wall sometimes. Judge Roland Steinle announced before the lunch break that one of the jurors has come down sick. That means the testimony about Robin Blasnek’s murder, as well as the end of the first segment of the prosecution’s case, will be delayed until after Thanksgiving.
The trial is off all next week for the holiday, but check back here tomorrow for a small story wrapping up this week’s developments. Then, live blogging from the trial will begin again on Dec. 1.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Judge Steinle • Jurors • Life in trial • Prosecution • health care • Judge Steinle • jury • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
November 18th, 2008, 3:31 pm by Nick R. Martin
 It has been almost a month since a young juror in the front row was caught napping and told to stay awake. He denied he was sleeping, but still promised to load himself up with “a couple Red Bulls” to remain alert during testimony. Well, according to defense attorney Ken Everett, it hasn’t been enough.
This afternoon, while the jury was out of the room on a short break, Everett complained to Judge Roland Steinle that the young man was again seen with his eyes closed and appeared to be snoozing during testimony. Steinle said he would keep an eye on it for the rest of the day. When the man came back into the room after the break, he was carrying a bottle of Mountain Dew.
Photo used under free distribution licensing from Wikimedia Commons.
Posted in: Defense • Judge Steinle • Jurors • Life in trial • Dale Hausner • Judge Steinle • Jurors • phoenix • red bull • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
November 17th, 2008, 1:50 pm by Nick R. Martin
 Beyond the live blogging and twittering you’ll find here, KTVK-TV (Channel 3) has a live video feed of the Dale Hausner trial on its Web site. The feed is only on whenever the trial is in session, and from what I can tell, there are sometimes connection difficulties. But it’s another way to watch the eight-count murder trial of the Mesa man accused of being the Serial Shooter.
Currently, a man named Joseph Roberts is on the stand talking about the time he was shot on July 3, 2006 in Phoenix. Like many of the victims, he was walking alone at night when he was hit with a shotgun blast. Doctors later had to remove a third of his stomach, and he spent a week in a local hospital. Now 21 years old, Roberts is timid on the stand, but his testimony remains vivid and painful.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Life in trial • joseph roberts • phoenix • Serial Shooter | 1 Comment »
October 29th, 2008, 11:23 am by Nick R. Martin
Judge Steinle warned the courtroom that the building may have to be evacuated this morning because of a fire drill. Apparently a rumor is circulating in the halls that an alarm will go off any minute now. If that’s the case, jurors will be the first to leave the courtroom, then Hausner will be escorted out a side door. Elevators are off limits and the court staff will have to figure out how to maintain order as the three high-rise buildings that make up the courthouse are emptied.
Meanwhile, Phoenix police detective Cliff Jewell continues his testimony about the Toyota Camry spotted near the scenes of three shootings the night of Dec. 29, 2005. The testimony is important because Hausner drove a car seemingly identical to the one captured on camera that night. This is at least the third day of testimony involving a surveillance camera and the car.
Photo from Google Street View. Maricopa County Superior Court’s Central Building.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Judge Steinle • Jurors • Life in trial • Dale Hausner • detective • drill • evacuation • fire • high rise • judge • phoenix • police • Serial Shooter | Post a Comment »
October 27th, 2008, 12:59 pm by Nick R. Martin
Your tireless trial blogger is, well, out today. I plan to return tomorrow, so check back then for more updates. Until then, see Friday’s post to catch up on recent happenings in court.
File photo by Tim Hacker, Tribune. A press conference is held in August 2006 at Phoenix City Hall announcing the capture of Samuel Dieteman and Dale Hausner, the Serial Shooter suspects.
Posted in: Dale Hausner • Life in trial | Post a Comment »
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