OSWEGO -- Tempers were flaring during a motion hearing Wednesday in the Erin Maxwell murder case. "I'm telling you what I've been doing and I"ve been sitting here waiting," said Judge Walter Hafner Jr. The judge was clearly unhappy that defense attorney Sal Lanza showed up late to Oswego County Court. "I object to what you're going and you're in a bad mood and I object," Lanza said. "I'm in a bad mood because I've been waiting for you to appear," Judge Haefner replied.
Then, they got down to business. The prosecution and defense were arguing motions related to the autopsy report, three search warrants and DNA testing. Alan Jones stood shackled, his mother Lynn and stepfather Lindsay Maxwell were watching on. Jones is accused of killing his 11-year-old stepsister back in August.
Prosecutors are still trying to get the judge to stop Lanza from releasing information to the media, specifically the autopsy report, saying it will taint the potential pool of jurors ahead of this high-profile murder case. But Lanza disagrees. "The autopsy report is still an issue and we need that autopsy report," Lanza said.
Also in court today, the judge said he plans to review the search warrants on the Maxwell home to determine if there was probably cause to execute them. Lanza also wants the green rope, found around Erin's neck, tested for traces of DNA, which he hopes will prove that his client had nothing to do with the little girl's death, and that as he contends, this was just a terrible accident.
Lanza also told the judge today he hopes to call a high-profile forensic pathologist to testify. Lanza asked the judge to approve Dr. Cyril Wecht as a witness in the case. Oswego County taxpayers would pay for it because Lanza is serving as a public defender. Wecht has been asked to testify in several high-profile trials, including the case against Claus Von Bulow and the Mary Jo Kopechne case against Senator Edward Kennedy.
Alan Jones, meanwhile, remains locked up in the Oswego County jail as lawyers continue to work through the legal aspects of this case. He'll be back in court February 26.
