Following the latest DNA-driven delay this morning in the homicide case against National Guard veteran Sgt. Scott Ansman, the frustrated prosecutor Joe Markus expressed confidence that the new trial-starting date actually would happen.
At the Airport Courthouse, Judge James R. Dabney set the new trial date for a fortnight away, Monday, March 23.
To solidify the new launch date, Judge Dabney will huddle with defense counsel Nan Whitfield, who has been pursuing her own DNA sources, and Mr. Markus in a status conference in his courtroom next week, on Wednesday, March 18.
Ms. Whitfield told the court that when she consulted her DNA authorities last Wednesday regarding a knife allegedly used in the crime, they said they would need two more weeks to deliver results.
The status conference next week would be the 14th day after Ms. Whitfield’s call.
With an anguishing Martha Lou Harris, mother of murder victim JoAnn Crystal Harris, seated just a few feet away, Mr. Markus, clearly agitated by months of postponements, told Judge Dabney:
“I want to stay here and try this case.
“We have been structuring the DNA since before the first of the year.
“I have nothing to say to the court except, can we try this case?”
“I am anxious to try the case, too,” Judge Dabney assured him.
With that, the judge said he was getting into trial mode. “I’m starting right now,” he said.
Barring new delays, the trial will begin one day before the 19-month anniversary of the date on which Mr. Ansman, a married father of three, is accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend during a late-afternoon dispute at the National Guard Armory in Culver City.
If found guilty, he could face life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
