WOODLAND — The defense attorney in a Davis double-homicide case will seek to have some of the charges against his teenage client dismissed, he said Tuesday during a Yolo Superior Court hearing.
Deputy Public Defender Ron Johnson announced his intent to file a dismissal motion after entering a not-guilty plea on behalf of 16-year-old Daniel William Marsh, who has been ordered to stand trial for the April 14 stabbing deaths of Oliver “Chip” Northup, 87, and his wife Claudia Maupin, 76, in their Cowell Boulevard condominium.
Johnson declined to comment further about the motion, which likely will be filed next month. Marsh faces two counts of first-degree murder with enhancements for use of a knife, plus three special circumstances alleging multiple murders, torture and lying in wait.
Judge Timothy Fall set a Nov. 1 hearing for argument of the dismissal motion, which Johnson has until Oct. 18 to file.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Couzens, standing in Tuesday for Marsh prosecutor Michael Cabral, told Fall that a trial in the case is expected to last about seven days.
But because his courtroom is not currently assigned to hear lengthier trials, Fall scheduled the case before Judge Stephen Mock on Friday morning to set a trial date and determine whether the trial will remain in Fall’s courtroom or be heard by another judge.
Marsh did not speak during the brief hearing, but smiled and mouthed a greeting to his family seated in the audience as he entered the courtroom. He also raised his shackled hands to wave at them as he left.
Marsh remains in custody at Yolo County Juvenile Hall in Woodland.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene
