Attorney for West Point murder suspect wants state to pay for expert witness
FARMINGTON — The defense attorney for an Ogden man accused of killing another man wants the state to pay for an expert witness.
Russell Farr appeared with his client, Jory Fenstermaker, 25, before 2nd District Court Judge Robert Dale in Farmington on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Fenstermaker is charged with murder in the shooting death of Randy Lennell Lewis, 29, on March 15, 2015, in West Point. Fenstermaker’s case is scheduled for trial Jan. 30 to Feb. 6, 2017.
Farr, who is a private attorney, told Dale he plans to file a motion asking the state to pay for the defense’s expert witness.
Farr said Fenstermaker is unable to pay for the witness since he is being held at the Weber County Jail without bail.
Fenstermaker was arrested in August and charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, and possessing a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, for a July 17 incident when a man reported he had been assaulted outside Lucky Slice Pizza on 25th Street. The man picked Fenstermaker out of a police lineup, according to a probable cause statement filed in 2nd District Court. A two-day trial in that case is scheduled in March.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Jeffrey Thomson said in Thursday’s hearing the state does not pay for expert witnesses when a defendant has hired a private attorney.
Thomson said after the hearing that the Utah Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court both ruled that defendants who hire private attorneys cannot ask the state for funds for expert witnesses.
Years ago, defendants who hired private attorneys were allowed public funds to hire expert witnesses and investigators, Thomson said.
Farr said in court he plans to hire “this expert and if it comes out of my own pocket, it comes out of my own pocket.”
Farr is also asking the judge to allow the defense to bring up Lewis’s medical and criminal history at the trial.
Thomson said after the hearing that the state is seeking to exclude the victim’s history “because it’s not relevant.”
The judge will hear oral arguments concerning the motions on Dec. 8.
You can reach reporter Loretta Park lpark@standard.net or at 801-625-4252. Follow her on Twitter@LorettaPark SE or like her on Facebook.