Capital murder suspect Armando Barron of Jaffrey’s legal defense team requested a ruling on evidence preservation during a court appearance Tuesday.
Barron is accused of allegedly luring 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault of Keene to a remote location in Rindge in September and killing him before attempting to dispose of his body in Coos County.
During a dispositional hearing on Tuesday morning at the Cheshire Superior Court, conducted via webconference, Barron’s council, Meredith Lugo, argued that if there is any forensic testing done on collected evidence that would destroy or partially destroy the sample, the defense should be notified and the court should rule on the necessity first.
Prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General Scott Chase argued that the request was an overstep, and an attempt by the defendant to “insert himself into the investigation.”
“At this point, any evidence that we will eventually test, it is not apparent whether it’s inculpatory, exculpatory or entirely irrelevant,” Chase said. “That’s not consistent with the defendant’s due process protections…It’s inappropriate, and it goes beyond the standard.”
Chase noted that in other investigations, there may have already been a significant amount of forensic testing that occurred prior to an arrest or indictment, and the proper place to challenge the state’s testing process is during trial.
Lugo said not every test destroys the sample, and that there is precedent for this kind of oversight in other murder cases in the state.
Judge David Ruoff did not rule on the matter Tuesday, indicating he would file his decision on the matter shortly.
Lugo has also moved for Barron to be able to be present at the court during his as-yet unscheduled probable cause hearing. Lugo has argued that live hearings have occurred in various parts of the state in serious felony cases. To date, all of Barron’s court appearances have been via webconference from jail, where he is currently being held without bail.
Lugo initially asked for the probable cause hearing to be scheduled as soon as Nov. 12, but the state requested an extension of 45 days, due to significant amount of evidence, as well as investigators involved with the case being quarantined due to COVID-19, which Chase said had hindered the discovery process.
Ruoff requested both sides submit scheduling proposals by Jan. 29.
Barron also faces several domestic violence charges related to the case for allegedly physically assaulting his wife multiple times and threatening her with a gun after finding out she was allegedly having an affair with Amerault.
During the hearing, the state’s attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the capital murder charge, indicated it would also likely be taking on the prosecution of Barron’s domestic violence charges, which are currently a separate case being prosecuted by the county attorney’s office. Ruoff agreed to merge the two cases for the purposes of scheduling.
Ruoff also approved the state disclosing any sealed material in the case to the defense.
The defense and prosecution agreed to a second dispositional hearing to be scheduled at a date to be determined in February.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.