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Prosecutor asks for attorney to be removed in jail case

BY JESSICA LOGAN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jlogan@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, Nov 14 2006 12:21 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Nov 14 2006 12:21 PM

The attorney who is prosecuting three detention deputies for the death of an inmate has asked for one of the attorneys for the detention deputies to be removed from the case.

Daniel Thomas Lindini, Ralph Contreras and Roxanne Fowler are charged with murder after inmate James Moore was severely beaten in custody and later died in August 2005.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Magner has asked for Fowler’s attorney, David Torres, to be removed from the case. Magner believes Torres has a conflict of interest because he represented a man in 2005 who accused Fowler of mistreating him in custody.

Torres insists that his client was mistaken about Fowler’s involvement in an incident that included many detention deputies.

This and many other issues were postponed Tuesday because Kern County Superior Court Judge Clarence Westra Jr. said he did not have the time to read the voluminous filings.

Fowler and Lindini have asked for the case to be thrown out because they believe there is not enough evidence to warrant a trial.

Lindini has also asked for his case to be separated from the other two detention deputies.

His attorney, Greg Mitts, said the evidence against Lindini is much less than against the other two and he does not want that to affect his case.

The issues will be heard on Dec. 7.