‘Shocking’ amount of undisclosed evidence: Idaho man walks free after 4 years in prison

Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman

MOUNTAIN HOME (Idaho Statesman) — A Mountain Home man who was serving a 10-year fixed condemnation for 1 count of inducement to execution has been released 4 years into his condemnation aft a judge wished violations regarding grounds handling and ineffective counsel led to his conviction.

Ricky Weaver’s condemnation was vacated aft nan Elmore County Sheriff’s Office recovered undisclosed grounds astatine nan bottommost of a closet, arsenic good arsenic undisclosed telephone records. Weaver’s attorney, John DeFranco, besides acknowledged that he was not afloat prepared successful his defense fixed nan missing evidence.

“While not each nan undisclosed grounds was needfully favorable, nan sheer magnitude of grounds that was not disclosed is shocking,” 4th District Judge James Cawthon wrote successful his decision.

Weaver was arrested successful Elmore County connected Dec. 20, 2018, while awaiting proscription to Owyhee County connected attempted strangulation and home artillery charges successful relationship pinch his ex-girlfriend. Prosecutors said Weaver, who was incarcerated astatine Elmore County Jail, later tried to prosecute Michael Wallace, who was incarcerated astatine Elmore County Jail alongside Weaver, to termination nan female for $2,000.

Weaver was tried earlier a assemblage and recovered blameworthy of inducement to execution successful March 2020.

But Weaver revenge a post-conviction petition seeking to vacate his condemnation successful June 2021, arguing that Elmore County Prosecutor Daniel Page and erstwhile Elmore County Deputy Zachary Parlin had committed prosecutorial misconduct successful his lawsuit and violated his correct to a adjacent trial. Weaver claimed he had ineffective assistance of counsel, which is erstwhile a criminal defendant’s ineligible practice fails to meet a minimum modular of competence and diligence.

Cawthon granted his petition aft reviewing grounds that had been missing successful his proceedings and admittance from Weaver’s attorney, DeFranco, that he would person tried nan lawsuit overmuch otherwise had he known each nan facts.

Weaver was released from situation earlier this month. The Elmore County Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to requests for remark from nan Idaho Statesman.

CELLPHONE RECORDS UNDISCLOSED DURING TRIAL

Parlin seized Weaver’s telephone and extracted it for grounds successful December 2018 aft nan Elmore County Sheriff’s Office ordered a hunt warrant. But texts discovered betwixt Weaver and his ex-girlfriend were ne'er disclosed during Weaver’s trial, Cawthon said successful his written decision.

Page admitted successful an email to 1 of Weaver’s erstwhile defense attorneys that he had recovered 1,189 pages’ worthy of texts betwixt Weaver and his ex-girlfriend connected Parlin’s computer. Parlin denied immoderate knowledge of nan extraction contempt his agency ordering nan hunt warrant, according to Cawthon’s written decision.

Cawthon said Parlin didn’t explicate what happened to those matter messages pursuing nan search, and that Page’s denial of knowing astir nan extraction contradicts nan truth that his agency specifically prepared nan hunt warrant to extract integer evidence.

One of nan outstanding pieces of grounds comes from Aug. 2, 2018, erstwhile nan ex-girlfriend, Michelle Kastner, said Weaver struck her pinch a revolver while connected a sportfishing trip. However, Cawthon said photos from that day and matter messages astir that clip contradicted Kastner’s allegations.

Weaver besides said he noticed immoderate matter messages had been deleted successful nan twelvemonth since he was tried and convicted of nan inducement case.

Forensic master Wayne Joselyn successful his affidavit wrote that nan Elmore County Sheriff’s Office handled nan telephone successful a “lackadaisical way.” On aggregate occasions, Joselyn wrote, he arrived astatine nan agency and recovered nan telephone lying connected a table astatine nan main entranceway of nan building without a password connected nan phone.

JURY FINDS WEAVER GUILTY

Weaver and Kastner shared custody of Weaver’s biologic daughter, according to nan written decision. After facing a home unit charge, of which he was ne'er convicted, Weaver mislaid custody of his child. Kastner successful tribunal grounds said Weaver was abusive and threatened to termination her if she did thing that would make him suffer custody of his daughter.

Wallace during proceedings testified that Weaver asked him to execution “his woman aliases nan mother of his child.” He went connected to opportunity that Weaver offered him $2,000 and would springiness him $200 upfront. In Weaver’s defense, DeFranco tried to show that Weaver didn’t want Kastner killed and that he conscionable wanted Wallace to repossess Weaver’s 1992 Honda Accord from Kastner.

Kastner had reported to constabulary successful June 2018 that Weaver raped her connected 2 occasions earlier that year. But he was ne'er prosecuted because she had antecedently written letters confessing to submitting mendacious constabulary reports relating to Weaver, according to Cawthon’s written decision.

WEAVER’S JAIL CALL TO MOTHER

On nan day of Nov. 29, 2018, conscionable moments aft prosecutors said nan inducement occurred, Weaver called his mother from nan Elmore County Jail. In nan call, which was recorded, Weaver made respective comments to his mother astir Kastner, and told her to “try to beryllium bully to her” and “to look past her hatred.”

Weaver besides asked his mother to alteration nan car shed codification connected his location truthful Kastner could not summation entry, which Cawthon said indicated that Weaver expected Kastner to proceed “harassing him.” Cawthon besides noted that those instructions to his mom would not person been basal had Weaver ordered a deed connected Kastner.

Cawthon said Weaver only had $50 connected his books astatine nan clip of nan telephone and didn’t moreover person nan $200 upfront to salary Wallace, and he apt would’ve asked his mother for nan money if he needed it. Weaver besides talked to his mother astir nan request to get his 1992 Honda Accord backmost from Kastner, which corroborates Weaver’s defense during his trial.

Elmore County Jail records each captive calls, and though Page admitted to listening to immoderate calls, he didn’t admit to listening to nan telephone betwixt Weaver and his mother. Cawthon recovered Page’s grounds not credible, and questioned why he requested hundreds of calls that Weaver had made during his clip successful jailhouse but did not perceive to calls astir nan clip nan inducement allegedly took place.

Cawthon concluded that Page astir apt knew astir Weaver’s telephone pinch his mother and grounded to disclose that information.

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FOUND IN A CLOSET

Susie McKerchie, an administrative adjunct and grounds technician for nan detectives division, recovered a container of constabulary reports and recordings astatine nan bottommost of a closet successful nan Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. McKerchie successful grounds said she didn’t callback erstwhile she recovered nan box, but that Parlin apt near it location erstwhile he retired.

Cawthon recovered that nan grounds container was different illustration of Parlin’s “sloppy” record-keeping. The grounds successful nan container didn’t spell done nan emblematic concatenation of custody procedures and grounded to log nan evidence, nan judge said.

Part of nan undocumented grounds included grounds suggesting that Kastner had made mendacious allegations against Weaver successful nan past.

Although Weaver has been group free and his condemnation vacated, nan lawsuit will beryllium reopened and reexamined, according to Cawthon’s conclusions.

Weaver will stay free nether his ain recognizance, his lawyer Nathan Olsen told nan Idaho Statesman, which intends he’ll beryllium required to show up for tribunal and immoderate different early hearings related to nan case.