"An upstate New York judge has denied a dismissal or mistrial request
made by defense lawyers for a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's
12-year-old son. The defense attorneys made the request as the second day of court began in Canton, New York, this morning. Lawyers for Oral "Nick" Hillary — a local father and a former college
soccer coach — asked for the dismissal or mistrial this morning because,
they say, prosecutors withheld information concerning a witness from
them. The prosecution said “we should have turned it over" but called
the defense's request for a dismissal or mistrial "extreme." That
witness, Greg Brown, claimed he saw John Jones, also an ex-boyfriend of
the victim's mother, on the street of the crime around the time of the
murder. "This may have changed our defense strategy," said the defense team,
arguing that information from Brown's interview wasn't turned over to
them until the first day of trial. "We may have stuck with a jury rather
than a bench trial." The revelation that a witness saw another person near the crime scene
"isn't a small violation," said the defense team. "This is huge." Police have said surveillance video showing Jones near his home around the time of the murder eliminated him as a suspect. The victim, Garrett Phillips, was found strangled to death in the
apartment of his mother, Tandy Cyrus, in Potsdam, New York, in the
afternoon of Oct. 24, 2011.The popular, friendly and athletic golden-haired boy had just begun the
sixth grade when his mysterious murder shocked the small town. From
nearly Day One, the spotlight of suspicion seemed focused on Hillary,
and he was charged with second-degree murder several years later.
Hillary has always insisted he is innocent. He waived his right to a
jury last week and the case began this week as a bench trial......... Catena ruled that prosecution testimony will proceed, and, shortly afterward, the murdered boy's grandfather took the stand.........
Hillary's defense team said in their opening statement Monday that he
couldn't have committed the murder - which is estimated to have occurred
a few minutes after 5 p.m., according to police -- because he was at
home with his daughter until just after 5 p.m., and then with another
soccer coach about 20 minutes after 5 p.m."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/nick-hillary-murder-trial-defense-calls-dismissal-mistrial/story?id=42054527