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McKinney: Bell motion hearing postponed
RECUSED: A hearing on motions to recuse a defense attorney and the entire DA’s office from a capital murder trial was pushed back to after next year.
By Danny Gallagher, McKinney Courier-Gazette
A hearing scheduled to discuss motions to remove a defense attorney and the entire Collin County District Attorney’s capital murder case has been rescheduled.
Robert Guest, a defense attorney based in Kaufman, filed a note on his blog, “Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog,” (http://www.dallascriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/) on Oct. 1 asking readers to come to the hearing scheduled this morning in the 416th District to support “Mr. Gore, attorney/client privilege and the Bill of Rights.”
A subsequent note filed on the blog said the hearing was cancelled and pushed back until after the end of the year.
Collin County court records do not show that the hearing has been postponed. Attempts were made to reach Bell’s attorney Steven Miears and Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis, but neither could be reached to confirm the date change.
Bell was arrested last January and charged with capital murder in connection with the Dec. 26, 2007, murder of Craig Nail. Also arrested were the deceased's estranged wife, Vera Elizabeth Guthrie-Nail of Frisco, and Thomas Edward Grace of Carrollton. Allegations have been made that Guthrie-Nail hired Bell as a hit man to kill her estranged husband.
Rusch signed a search warrant in February for Gore's office, one of the attorneys representing Bell. The Collin County District Attorney's office submitted the request for Gore's office on W. Virginia Parkway after staffers learned Gore may have received evidence from Bell's wife, Linda, including a pair of shoes that he allegedly wore during the initial murder and letters detailing escape plans and suicide attempts, according to the warrant affidavit.
Defense attorneys claim after the search warrant was executed, the overseer of the search, attorney Eric Higgins, and two Frisco police detectives returned some of the seized materials to Rusch's home including a sealed box. They claim if the detectives were called to testify, they would recall that they left Rusch and Higgins alone with the materials and then later saw Rusch open the sealed box with a knife, according to the brief.
Contact Danny Gallagher at dgallagher@acnpapers.com.
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