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Continued evidence tests in the Joanna “Asha” Veil double homicide case are delaying suspect Michael McClish’s preliminary hearing until December, pushing any trial date to sometime in 2009.

“(District Attorney Bob) Lee tells me he is still doing evidence testing,” defense attorney Thomas Wallraff said in court Sept. 19, “and then we will want to have our own experts do some testing.”

Superior Court Judge Samuel Stevens set Dec. 8 for the preliminary hearing, when prosecutors for the first time will lay out evidence against McClish, and when Wallraff will outline his defense.

If Stevens decides there is probable cause to conclude McClish committed the crimes, a trial will be scheduled. If not, charges against McClish would likely be dismissed.

The hearing was to originally have been scheduled during a court appearance July 31, but setting the date was postponed because of incomplete evidence testing.

“In a case of this magnitude,” Wallraff said at the time, “each side wants to have as much evidence as possible.”

Veil, a coworker of McClish’s who was 6½ months pregnant, was killed in 2006. It took sheriff’s detectives and the district attorney’s office 1½ years to make an arrest.

By that time, McClish was already in prison on a sexual assault conviction in a case that came to light during the Veil investigation. McClish pleaded not guilty in the Veil case and has told his family that he is innocent of both crimes.

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written by Well?, October 07, 2008

I know that this is an old story. And no one wants to cover it much anymore. But there's a lot of talk out there about how his first trial was not on the up and up. And please don't freak out, but just give it a bit of consideration.

Jurors admitted that the voted him guilty because they didn't like the looks of him. Is that justice?

What if it were your brother/son/dad? And yes, I agree, Asha could have been your sister/daughter.

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