GUILTY CA - Sam Herr, 26, & Julie Kibuishi, 23, murdered, Los Alamitos, 21 May 2010

[gm8549]

Joe,thanks for keeping this updated. Had not seen your earlier post about the detective.

A later article says he was legally intoxicated and texting. Hope this doesn't harm the case. It's way too long already.

 

[JoeFromLB]

It looks like things are finally on the move in this case. A search of court records shows a pre-trial hearing is scheduled for February 7, 2014 with a Jury Trial set for March 14, 2014.

It has been almost three-and-a-half years since his arrest for these murders.

 

[i.b.nora]

Joe,thanks for keeping this updated. Had not seen your earlier post about the detective.

A later article says he was legally intoxicated and texting. Hope this doesn't harm the case. It's way too long already.

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-0509-delgadillo-crash-20130508,0,6662770.story

By Lauren Williams
May 8, 2013 | 5:43 p.m.

snips

"In the moments before a car crash that killed a Costa Mesa police detective, the officer was sending and receiving text messages and had been drinking at local restaurants, according to an investigation conducted by Newport Beach police."

"At the time of the crash, Delgadillo was not wearing a seat belt, according to Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe, who released information included in the investigation into Delgadillo's death. ..."

"Delgadillo's blood-alcohol level was .14 blood-alcohol — above the legal limit of .08."

 

[JoeFromLB]

Victims' families plead for trial to start in 2010 slayings

Trial start date of March 14 seems uncertain; Daniel Patrick Wozniak faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering an Army veteran and a female friend.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/wozniak-531862-herr-kibuishi.html

excerpt:
Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy said delays already have prejudiced the prosecution’s case with the death of (victim) Kibuishi’s grandfather – who would have testified at trial.

“I’ve been ready to try this for three years,” Murphy said before Friday’s court hearing.

 

[JoeFromLB]

March 14th has come and gone without the trial starting. There is no news on when a trial might actually be held. Wozniak has another court hearing on May 2nd.

I'll try to keep the thread updated as this continues to drag out. It has been almost FOUR years since his arrest.

 

[JoeFromLB]

The case may drag on for many more months, as the defense is lobbing allegations of misconduct by the prosecution. The judge is very upset about the long delays.

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-me-0614-wozniak-delay-20140613,0,2529379.story

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-me-0905-wozniak-delays-20140904,0,1278480.story

In a notebook, Steve Herr keeps a list of every court hearing for the man accused of murdering his son. As of Aug. 29 — four years, three months and eight days after Sam Herr's death — there have been 40 in the case against Daniel Patrick Wozniak.

"Every time we go in there, it's a slap in the face," Steve Herr said before entering Orange County Superior Court last week. "I'm starting to hate the justice system more than I hate Wozniak"...

Wozniak's defense most recently asked to postpone the trial until next year while it crafts a motion alleging misconduct by prosecutors.

 

[JoeFromLB]

His next court appearance is January 23rd. No information on when the trial will be held. It has been four-and-a-half years since his arrest.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Okay, more information here. The judge has refused to budge on a February 13th trial date, but gave Wozniak's attorney some time to prepare his brief alleging D.A. misconduct. The judge is frustrated with all the delays. The defense attorney is a real piece of work. Hopefully this trial will finally start, some 4 1/2 years after Wozniak's arrest.

http://mynewsla.com/orange-county/2...me-daniel-wozniak-government-misconduct-case/

 

[JoeFromLB]

Unbelievable development. The judge has quit the case, saying he could not be unbiased. Forget about the February 13th trial date. They'll be lucky to get this started a year from now.
The defense attorney is doing a brilliant job of making sure this trial may never actually happen. Something has to be done about these absurd delays.

http://www.presstelegram.com/genera...n-accused-of-burying-body-parts-in-long-beach

In court last week, Stotler expressed exasperation at the length of motions being filed by Sanders. He noted that he was relieved when a motion filed Thursday by Sanders was only 81 pages, only to realize the document was only a summary of a planned longer motion.

“Then I started to think I don’t know what this is and then my ultimate nightmare -- this is a summary of the motion and I still might get 20,000 pages and 70 volumes” to rule on, Stotler said.

In court Tuesday, Stotler said he did not believe he could remain impartial in the case, so he recused himself.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...utraging-victims-families-20150221-story.html

With the case still in the pretrial phase, Sanders filed a motion this month requesting that Judge Conley step down from the case because Sanders hopes to call Conley as a witness during hearings on the lawyer's allegations of misconduct by Orange County law enforcement...

The parents of Herr and Kibuishi have repeatedly voiced their frustration over delays in the case, which is almost 5 years old. Herr's father, Steve, called the latest development "absurd." Conley has presided over the case for less than a month...

"How can this be stopped?" Steve Herr asked Friday.

 

[JoeFromLB]

The defense attorney is seeking to have EVERY Orange County judge ruled out in this case. They would have to find a judge from another county.

This could take forever to come to trial. I'm no lawyer, but it seems absurd that this could be allowed to happen.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.people.com/article/daniel-wozniak-murders-killer-had-larger-than-life-personality

While Wozniak, now 31, awaits trial in an Orange County jail, his attorney, Orange County public defender Scott Sanders, says his client is willing to plead guilty and serve life without the possibility of parole if prosecutors take the death penalty off the table.

Orange County Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy counters that the case "has been pending a very long time and the families deserve their day in court."

"Give us closure," says Herr's mom Raquel. "We want to put this behind us. We have gone to court over 100 times."

 

[JoeFromLB]

It has been almost FIVE years since Wozniak was arrested and charged in this case. It's anyone's guess when a trial will be held. His next court hearing is June 26th.

It must be pure hell for the victims' families to endure this. The system is totally broken.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Exactly five years now since Wozniak's arrest, and the trial is not even close to happening.

Unbelievable.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Wozniak's trial has been postponed AGAIN as his lawyer continues to try to get the judge removed from the case. This is beyond ridiculous.

http://mynewsla.com/orange-county/2...r-wozniak-reps-say/?google_editors_picks=true

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/herr-695023-wozniak-kibuishi.html

He awaits justice, as he has for five years, six months and 16 days.

That’s how long it’s been since Steve Herr’s son was slain – his head cut off and discarded in a public park. Police quickly arrested a suspect and charged him with murder, but since then?

Herr has attended more than 130 court hearings, mostly at the Orange County Superior Courthouse in Santa Ana, waiting for the judge to seat a jury. It’s been a long wait. But the trial of Daniel Patrick Wozniak, the community theater actor accused of killing Herr’s son, is expected to start Monday.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Wow, after five long years things have suddenly moved very quickly. His trial began this week.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/herr-695495-wozniak-police.html

 

[PastTense]

An Orange County jury Wednesday convicted a Costa Mesa community theater actor of a gruesome double murder that included beheading his neighbor and trying to cover up the crime by killing the man's friend and staging her body to look as if she'd been sexually assaulted.

Daniel Wozniak, 31, hoped to "use his magical acting powers to trick the dumb police," prosecutor Matt Murphy told jurors during his closing argument Wednesday morning.

http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-1217-wozniak-trial-20151216-story.html

 

[PastTense]

Jurors convicted Wozniak on Dec. 16 of two counts of murder for the slayings of 26-year-old Army veteran Sam Herr and Herr's friend Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23, in 2010.

This week, the same jurors heard evidence in the penalty phase of the trial, in which prosecutors tried to convince them that Wozniak deserves a death sentence. Wozniak's defense team is expected to finish presenting its closing argument Monday, after which jurors will start deliberating Wozniak's fate.

If they choose to spare him the death penalty, Wozniak would receive life in prison without parole.

http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-...wozniak-closing-arguments-20160107-story.html