[ad_1]
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini is back in court Tuesday, as he and his new lawyer, Barry Zimmerman, request a new trial following his July murder conviction.A Placer County jury convicted Serafini in July of shooting his in-laws in an ambush attack at their Tahoe home in June 2021. That attack left Gary Spohr, 70, dead, and critically injured Wendy Wood, 68. She died by suicide years later despite making a full recovery.Serafini, 51, has not been sentenced yet, and he asked for new counsel after the conviction. That sentencing has been delayed until the request for a new trial is heard.In court documents, Serafini has pointed to KCRA’s interview with three jurors days after they delivered their verdict. The documents claimed the interview demonstrated jury misconduct.Three jurors, including the jury foreperson, testified in Tuesday’s hearing about their decision-making process. Zimmerman questioned the jurors about their deliberations, particularly their use of screenshots from two security videos entered into evidence. The videos included footage from the Elko, Nevada, Red Lion lobby showing Serafini the day before the shootings, and a driveway surveillance video capturing the killer entering the victims’ home. The jurors explained they needed screenshots because they could not play the videos side by side for comparison.In the exclusive interview with KCRA 3 days after the verdict, jury foreperson Caryn Schroeder explained the process. “We looked at those videos over and over. We were taking stills. We were creating slides side by side,” Schroeder said. “We were really analyzing, could the person in this video match who we knew was Daniel Serafini from the Red Lion video?”Zimmerman also asked the jurors about the interview they did with KCRA 3 News after the conviction. Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Rick Miller also asked the jurors if they considered other evidence from the six-week-long trial. Schroeder emphasized their thoroughness on the stand. “We took it very seriously. We were very invested and spent a lot of time deliberating. It was a long trial. We made sure we were following the jury instructions,” she said. “We really deliberated a lot.”The attorneys will be back before the judge to continue presenting their arguments over a motion for a new trial on Oct. 20.The judge will take the motion under advisement and is expected to return a ruling Oct. 28, the same day as Serafini’s sentencing. KCRA 3’s Michelle Bandur is at the court proceedings and will have updates on air and online. Download our app for the latest alerts.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini is back in court Tuesday, as he and his new lawyer, Barry Zimmerman, request a new trial following his July murder conviction.
A Placer County jury convicted Serafini in July of shooting his in-laws in an ambush attack at their Tahoe home in June 2021. That attack left Gary Spohr, 70, dead, and critically injured Wendy Wood, 68. She died by suicide years later despite making a full recovery.
Serafini, 51, has not been sentenced yet, and he asked for new counsel after the conviction. That sentencing has been delayed until the request for a new trial is heard.
In court documents, Serafini has pointed to KCRA’s interview with three jurors days after they delivered their verdict. The documents claimed the interview demonstrated jury misconduct.
Three jurors, including the jury foreperson, testified in Tuesday’s hearing about their decision-making process.
Zimmerman questioned the jurors about their deliberations, particularly their use of screenshots from two security videos entered into evidence. The videos included footage from the Elko, Nevada, Red Lion lobby showing Serafini the day before the shootings, and a driveway surveillance video capturing the killer entering the victims’ home. The jurors explained they needed screenshots because they could not play the videos side by side for comparison.
In the exclusive interview with KCRA 3 days after the verdict, jury foreperson Caryn Schroeder explained the process.
“We looked at those videos over and over. We were taking stills. We were creating slides side by side,” Schroeder said. “We were really analyzing, could the person in this video match who we knew was Daniel Serafini from the Red Lion video?”
Zimmerman also asked the jurors about the interview they did with KCRA 3 News after the conviction.
Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Rick Miller also asked the jurors if they considered other evidence from the six-week-long trial. Schroeder emphasized their thoroughness on the stand.
“We took it very seriously. We were very invested and spent a lot of time deliberating. It was a long trial. We made sure we were following the jury instructions,” she said. “We really deliberated a lot.”
The attorneys will be back before the judge to continue presenting their arguments over a motion for a new trial on Oct. 20.
The judge will take the motion under advisement and is expected to return a ruling Oct. 28, the same day as Serafini’s sentencing.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
[ad_2]