Judge declares mistrial in slaying of 13-year-old Dylan Redwine of Monument
Nov 9, 2020 Updated 14 hrs ago
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On Monday, the judge announced in court that he had tested negative in two separate tests for coronavirus. But in a new motion for a mistrial, attorneys for Redwine, 59, said that members of the defense team also began showing possible coronavirus symptoms last Thursday. Although one person on the defense team has since tested negative,
results are pending for others involved in the case, said one of Redwine’s attorneys, Justin Bogan.
Bogan argued that the defense would be forced to quarantine for 10-14 days under state and federal coronavirus recommendations, making it impossible to conduct the trial.
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In opposing the mistrial, District Attorney Christian Champagne asked the court to wait until other test results came back before scrapping the case. Champagne also questioned whether Redwine’s attorneys were “intentionally” using the coronavirus scare as a way of putting off their client’s trial.
Champagne said Mark Redwine was captured on tape discussing the bid for a postponement in a recorded jail phone call.
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The court granted the mistrial without making findings "as to the veracity of the allegations."
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"I beg of you judge keep this trial on track," Hall told the court, speaking of the family's "heartbreak" and saying they have been "victimized over and over again."
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Mark Redwine was indicted in July 2017, with authorities saying the boy’s blood was found throughout his home. He
faces up to 48 years in prison if convicted in his son’s murder.
Redwine’s trial was most recently postponed in June, due to a statewide moratorium on trials because of the pandemic. Redwine has been held at the La Plata County jail in Durango since his arrest three years ago.
Redwine was ordered to trial in October over objections from the defense, which cited Colorado’s spiraling infection rates in asking for a mistrial and another postponement.
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“The longer the defendant’s trial is delayed, the more likely both sides are to lose evidence necessary to fairly try this defendant,” the judge said in an Oct. 19 ruling.