OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Two Omaha attorneys have offered to work with the out-of-state defense team of a former doctor charged with killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school.
The Omaha World-Herald reported (https://bit.ly/1qnTfcN ) Saturday that Jeremy Jorgenson and his law partner, David Reed, filed a motion Friday to sponsor Chicago attorneys Alison Motta, her husband Robert Motta Jr. and father-in-law, Robert Motta Sr. The Mottas represent Anthony Garcia in his first-degree murder case.
State law allows out-of-state attorneys in good standing to practice in Nebraska, as long as they are associated and appear with a Nebraska attorney.
Garcia’s trial had been set to begin Monday, but was postponed indefinitely on Thursday when two other Omaha attorneys who had been working with the Mottas withdrew from the case. The lawyers withdrew after prosecutors accused Alison Motta of trying to taint the jury pool by, they said, falsely telling reporters that DNA evidence had exonerated Garcia.
A judge must decide whether the Mottas will be allowed to continue as Garcia’s attorneys. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said this week that he would continue to push his motion seeking to remove the Mottas from the case, saying Alison Motta’s statements violated Nebraska attorney ethics rules.
The Mottas have filed their own motion seeking to have Kleine replaced with a special prosecutor, defending Alison Motta’s statements on the DNA evidence and claiming that Kleine has been reckless in his prosecution of Garcia.
Garcia has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the March 2008 slayings of Dr. William Hunter’s 11-year-old son, Thomas Hunter, and the family’s housekeeper, Shirlee Sherman, as well as the May 2013 killings of Dr. Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary.
Authorities believe Garcia was motivated by revenge. Roger Brumback and William Hunter had been instrumental in firing Garcia from Creighton University’s pathology department in 2001, and both men sent letters to medical boards that prevented Garcia from becoming licensed in other states and from finishing residency programs.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, https://www.omaha.com
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