A Dolores man charged with assault, menacing, sexual assault, false imprisonment and harassment charges allegedly racially and sexually slurred his alleged victim last summer.
In an attempt to conceal the evidentiary details, public defender Kenneth Pace asked the court to bar news reporters from a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, July 21, or issue a gag order until the trial starts on Aug. 3. Pace argued that the racial and sexual slurs could prejudice his client at trial if reported to the public.
Citing a failure to provide adequate argument, Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker denied both defense pleas.
“I’m not going to exclude the press,” Walker said, upholding the First Amendment, “ and I’m certainly not going to tell them what they can print.”
At issue is whether three audio recordings captured by the alleged victim while under attack last year in June, July and August should be edited to omit numerous racial and sexual slurs. After a two-hour hearing, Walker said he would issue a written ruling on the matter before the trial date.
District Attorney Will Furse explained the recordings, which are about 15, 90 and 45 minutes in length respectively, contain “vile” verbal threats. He argued that jurors should be privy to unedited recordings, stating that the defendant “purposely and intentionally” used the insults in a violent attempt to overpower the alleged victim both physically and mentally.
“This is not character evidence,” said Furse. “Instead, it’s an audio picture of what happened.”
Reiterating that his client’s word choice could unfairly sway jurors, Pace acknowledged that the audio recordings contained a “plethora” of hateful remarks. Pace said he was most concerned that jurors would dismiss the facts in the case, and his client, instead, would be judged as a bigot.
“Mr. Dietz is not on trial for being a racist,” said Pace.
According to court records, Dietz reportedly threatened the alleged victim with physical abuse to engage in sex during a three-year span. Dietz has pleaded not guilty to a total of 15 felony and misdemeanor charges.
In an eight-page letter to investigators, Dietz’s sister, Jan Robinson, claims the alleged victim fabricated the charges against her brother in order to avoid prosecution of elder abuse and theft. Pace indicated at Tuesday’s hearing that Robinson’s claims would be included as part of his defense strategy.
Some 300 jury summons are expected to be issued for the assault trial, which could last up to two weeks. Less than half of those jurors are likely to report for jury duty, Walker said.
