The government failed to provide enough information about experts who will testify at Alfonso Rodriguez Jr.'s trial and must give defense lawyers more details, a federal judge ruled.
In his order, U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson agreed with lawyer Robert Hoy that the U.S. Attorney's Office hadn't met federal rules outlining disclosure of evidence.
However, the judge's sanctions don't go as far as Hoy requested.
Hoy asked the judge to sanction prosecutors by limiting or excluding the testimony of three experts, including the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Dru Sjodin, or grant a delay in Rodriguez's trial.
Hoy and U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley debated the issue during a hearing Friday. The judge issued his ruling after business hours Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rodriguez, 53, of Crookston, Minn., has pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping and death of Sjodin nearly 2½ years ago. Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to start July 6 in Fargo.
"In the court's opinion, these late disclosures do create some prejudice to the defendant," Erickson wrote. "These new opinions and the way the experts arrived at their opinions may require defense counsel to hire new experts less than two months before trial."
As a remedy, Erickson said U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley's office must provide a written summary and reasons for opinions by Dr. Michael McGee, Danielle Honig and Craig Thrane by today.
In addition, prosecutors must make all three witnesses available for depositions by the defense and identify which reports correlate with each of the government's 12 experts.
Hoy said Monday that defense lawyers would try to depose the three experts, but declined further comment.
During Friday's hearing, Wrigley said he wasn't against the defense talking to experts, a position he reiterated Monday.
Prosecutors told the defense months ago that they could speak with experts, Wrigley said. His office also shared more information with the defense in this case compared to others, he said.
Wrigley said he was pleased the judge didn't exclude or limit testimony, a decision he felt would have gone too far.
ADVERTISEMENT
"From our perspective, the most important thing is jurors get to hear all the testimony," Wrigley said. "We don't lose the opportunity to present the information to the jury."
Specifically, Erickson ruled prosecutors didn't disclose Honig, a mitochondrial DNA scientist, as an expert or provide the report or opinions of Thrane, a video specialist for Target, by the court-ordered deadline last month.
Based on the court record, Erickson said he can't compare opinions by McGee, the Ramsey County medical examiner, to his reports.
The judge has yet to rule on the defense's request to move the trial to Minneapolis. Defense lawyers argue Rodriguez can't get a fair trial in Fargo based on public opinion and pretrial publicity. Wrigley said he doesn't object to expanding the potential jury pool beyond 12 southeastern North Dakota counties to include the entire state.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Steven P. Wagner at (701) 241-5542
