Crime & Safety

Judge Denies Another Motion for Mistrial in Marriott Murder Trial

Strafford County judge denied a motion for a mistrial in State vs. Seth Mazzaglia.

Strafford County Superior Court Judge Steven Houran has denied another defense motion for a mistrial in the Lizzi Marriott murder trial.

Defender Joachim Barth moved for the mistrial June 24 based on the state's cross-examination of a witness, that of Linda Greenwaldt, who interviewed Kathryn McDonough days after Marriott's death for the New Hampshire Public Defender's office.

Houran last month denied a different motion for a mistrial.

The state prosecution, when Greenwaldt took the stand June 23, questioned her note-taking and her recollections of the first time she interviewed McDonough, which was not recorded, and in which McDonough said Marriott died during a consensual sex act.

Judge Houran, in denying the defense motion for a mistrial, said the state had a right to inquire into various areas on cross examination of the witness.

"The right to probe the witness in that area, the right to inquire of the witness' understanding of her ethical and legal obligations, the right to inquire as to potential sources of potential bias," Houran said. "It did not constitute a personal attack."

Barth, in moving for the mistrial, referenced "privilege" and he said the state should not be monitoring the "comings and goings" of defense counsel in seeing their client. He also argued, in part, that lead counsel for the defense had not yet been assigned at the time of that first Greenwaldt-McDonough interview.

The trial is continuing June 24 in Strafford County Superior Court in Dover, N.H.

Mazzaglia is on trial for the murder of Marriott, who was a 19-year-old student at the University of New Hampshire on Oct. 9, 2012. The defense claims Marriott died at the hands of McDonough, who testified earlier that Mazzaglia strangled and raped Marriott.

Related Lizzi Marriott Murder Trial Stories


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