Questions Have Been Raised, Trial Moved Back To March Against Nieves & Douglas
After a long delay because of Covid -19, another problem has been brought to the judge's attention, involving evidence that should have been shared with the lawyers for the defendants Kevin Nieves and Daquan Douglas.
The trial of two men charged in the October Mountain shooting of Nick Carnevale has now been continued until March after Judge John Agostini said the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office may have failed to properly disclose potential evidence to the defense.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin in Berkshire Superior Court on Monday in the trial of Kevin Nieves and Daquan Douglas. Looks like the jury selection process will be put back also now.
Lawyers for the defendants asked for a continuance in light of information they said they had just learned involved Blanchard, which raised significant concerns about the credibility of Jacob Blanchard, one of the prosecution’s key witnesses. Jacob Blanchard was with Carnevale at the party at the Ashley Reservoir where Carnevale was shot.
Blanchard was also one of four men involved in an unrelated home invasion in Adams just two months after the shooting near the Ashley Reservoir. But he was never charged in the incident, and the defense attorneys said they only learned Monday about his involvement in the case.
Prosecutors said they notified the attorneys in the shooting case of their reasons for not charging Blanchard. But in his ruling Monday, Judge John Agostini said that notification fell short of satisfying the prosecution’s burden to disclose exculpatory evidence.
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