An appeals court ruled that a federal judge from West Virginia who presided over a high profile case in Puerto Rico last year should have granted a defendant's change of venue request.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin, of West Virginia's Southern District, was assigned to preside over the case of Pablo Casellas Toro, who had already been convicted of murdering his wife.
Toro was sentenced to spend 109 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Carmen Paredes.
After being convicted of murder and weapons charges, federal prosecutors charged Toro with lying to police during the investigation into the murder. Toro is the son of Puerto Rico's U.S. District Judge Salvador Casellas, so all of the judges in Puerto Rico recused themselves from the case.
Goodwin presided over the 2014 trial, which resulted in jurors finding Toro guilty on all three counts of false statements. Goodwin, however, acquitted Toro of two of the charges, finding the government did not prove the elements of two of the counts beyond a reasonable doubt.
That verdict supported a presumption of juror bias, wrote judges William Duane Benton, of the 8th Circuit in Missouri; David B. Sentelle, of the District of Columbia Circuit; and Kent Jordan of the 3rd District in Delaware, who were appointed to hear Toro's appeal.
Toro was tried "in an atmosphere that prejudiced the trial's fundamental fairness," the ruling filed Dec. 7 states. Benton authored the 24-page ruling.
"'Massive' and 'sensational' publicity blanketing the community for two years before trial; extensive reporting on the defendant's conviction by a jury, of an intertwined, heinous crime; televised sentencing only two months before voir dire. And the government did not oppose a transfer," Benton wrote.
Goodwin began questioning potential jurors two months after Toro's sentencing for murder, which was broadcast live. Almost all of the 160-member jury pool raised their hands when asked whether any of them had heard of Toro, the ruling states. Goodwin questioned jurors who had heard of Toro individually and a number said they could set aside any opinion and be fair.
Goodwin asked prosecutors, "Why not take it somewhere else?" to which the government replied, "Well, that certainly would be easier."
Nevertheless, Goodwin overruled Toro's motion to change venue stating, "I certainly agree that we don't know yet if we can get a jury" but "there is a sufficient possibility we can get a jury," the ruling states.
The appeals court wrote that the individual questioning of jurors, rather than reducing concerns of bias, revealed their depth of knowledge about Toro and the hostility they felt toward him.
"This court presumes that the pretrial publicity prejudiced [Toro's] ability to be judged by a fair and impartial jury," the ruling states.
The judges granted the request for a new trial, but noted "it may fairly be wondered whether re-trial on a false-statement charge is a sound use of prosecutorial and judicial resources, but that question is not before this court." The appeals court upheld Goodwin's ruling denying Toro's motion to suppress evidence from searches of his car.
Goodwin doesn't handle many criminal cases in his home state, because his son is the U.S. Attorney. The judge has recused himself from all cases involving charges brought by prosecutors in Booth Goodwin's office.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.