Elizabeth Larson – Record-Bee staff
LAKEPORT ? The trial of a man accused of killing an Upper Lake woman, scheduled to begin Wednesday morning, was postponed until June 6 because new evidence has come to light in the case.
Nevada resident Paul James Smiraglia, 46, is accused of killing 43-year-old Diedre Coleman of Upper Lake.
Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who is prosecuting the case, said Wednesday that Smiraglia is facing a charge of first-degree murder, with a special allegation of infliction of torture.
If found guilty of such charges, Smiraglia could have faced the death penalty, but Hinchcliff said that isn”t being considered in this case.
“We”ve chosen not to pursue that,” Hinchcliff said.
Instead, Smiraglia could face a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole if found guilty.
Coleman was reported missing in 2002. In December of that year ? according to a Record-Bee report from Aug. 5, 2003 ? Coleman”s mother told sheriff”s investigators that she had not seen her daughter since March 2002.
However, investigators were able to track Coleman”s whereabouts up until June 2002; at that time, Coleman was reportedly staying in a house in Clearlake. It was in that city that she was last seen alive, according to the sheriff”s investigation.
Coleman”s body was found the next month, in July, near Cache Creek, along Highway 20 east of Long Valley Road. Dental records were used to identify her body, which police at the time speculated had been dumped “a long while” before it was found.
Forensics evidence indicated that her death resulted from blunt force trauma to the head, according to a Feb. 10, 2005 Record-Bee report.
On Wednesday, trial proceedings were due to begin in Judge Arthur Mann”s Department 3 courtroom. But as soon as Mann entered the courtroom, defense attorney Doug Rhoades submitted a motion to postpone the trial.
“It”s a motion to continue based on late-discovered evidence,” Rhoades later told the Record-Bee.
While the jury ? which had not yet been sworn in ? waited in another room, Mann took several minutes to look over Rhoades”s motion. Mann concluded that there were “significant evidentiary issues” that justified postponing the trial until the evidence could be considered.
Rhoades also stated he had received incomplete packets of discovery evidence from the prosecution ? which he attributed to a simple mistake ? and he needed to have complete copies of everything before proceeding.
Hinchcliff agreed to postponing the trial to June 6, and also agreed to a 1:30 p.m. motion hearing today, Thursday, to discuss the new findings.
“This is obviously significant new evidence,” Mann said.
He then summoned the jury, who took their places in the jury box. Mann advised them to return to court at 9 a.m. June 6 for the trial to continue. He also admonished the seven-man, five-woman jury not to discuss the case, read newspapers or listen to radio reports regarding it.
Hinchcliff told the Record-Bee that Rhoades is, in effect, not asking for a temporary postponement, but is asking to have the trial continued “to a future, unspecified time” based on the new evidence.
But just exactly what the new evidence is isn”t clear, as neither attorney could discuss it before the Thursday afternoon hearing.
Contact Elizabeth Larson at elarson@record-bee.com.
