Griesa retrial delayed

A visiting Yuba County judge on Friday delayed a decision on former Marysville tow company manager Joseph Griesa's motion to remove the entire District Attorney's Office staff from his felony sexual assault case.

The motion means Griesa's trial, which was set for Jan. 12, will again be delayed. He is charged with assaulting a 17-year-old girl who worked for him.

All county judges previously removed themselves from hearing the case.

Judge Ersel Edwards was skeptical of the 50-page motion and 250 pages of supporting documents filed by Griesa's attorney, Kenneth Rosenfeld, calling it a "starburst" containing "all kinds of allegations."

"A lot of it is simply not relevant," Edwards said.

Rosenfeld requested the state Attorney General's Office or an out-of-county district attorney take over prosecution from the Yuba County District Attorney's Office, which he called unethical.

Prosecutors told Griesa charges would be dropped and "lulled (him) into a sense of false security with regard to their intentions, even though they were actively pursuing an investigation by taking statements from other women," Rosenfeld wrote.

Yuba County jurors in June found Griesa guilty of misd meanor charges involving the girl. They failed to reach a verdict on felony charges.

Griesa is facing a retrial on the felony charges.

During the first trial, prosecutors concealed evidence favorable to Griesa, "knowingly presented false testimony and fabricated physical evidence," Rosenfeld wrote in the motion.

Rosenfeld is Griesa's fifth attorney since an investigation began in late 2007. Since he took over the case, Rosenfeld said, prosecutors have told him the 17-year-old would be the only witness against Griesa at the retrial. But they continue looking for more victims, he wrote.

At the retrial, prosecutors will be called to impeach the testimony of their own witnesses — one more reason they should be removed from the case, Rosenfeld wrote.

Prosecutors got confidential information from Griesa "through subterfuge" in order to build their case against two attorneys charged with obstruction of justice in a related case, he wrote.

Attorneys Jesse Santana and David Vasquez are charged with trying to bribe the girl to keep her from talking to police or testifying in court against Griesa.

Rosenfeld asked the judge to delay ruling on his motion for as long as six weeks while the Attorney General's Office reviews it.

Edwards declined.

"I don't know what the attorney general's interest is," Edwards said. "I don't know why they'd want to participate."

The Attorney General's Office previously took over prosecution of the two attorneys.