Thomas Mortimer: hearing on money, discovery
Today was a short motions hearing in the Thomas J. Mortimer case. Mortimer, of course, is the Winchester, MA man charged with four counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his wife, Laura, mother-in-law, Ellen, and children Finn (4) and Charlotte (2).
Mortimer was not in court today. From what I managed to piece together, Judge Jane Haggerty, who is handling the case now, seems not to allow defendants to change into their regular clothes, so Mortimer would have had to appear in court in his orange jail jumpsuit, like he did at the last hearing. Either he or his lawyer, Denise Regan, didn’t want this, so although he was in the building, he ended up just waiting in the holding area and never coming into the courtroom.
Three pieces of news from the hearing:
- Regan submitted an affidavit of counsel in support of indigency. It was ruled earlier that Mortimer is indigent enough to have a publically-funded defense, but he had enough assets to pay $40,000 toward his legal costs. Today Regan told the court that she and Mortimer were having some trouble accessing his IRAs because he’s in jail and doesn’t have his driver’s license or other identification, but she expects to have the money in a month. After taxes and early withdrawal fees, there will be $12,000 from two IRAs with Millennium Trust and $12,000 from Fidelity.
- A defense motion for funds for an investigator was allowed.
- Regan made a “motion to extend the tracking order.” This relates to discovery, the process by which prosecutors turn over evidence to the defense. According to Regan, important evidence still needs to be turned over. Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Lynch agreed, saying, “There was extensive forensic evidence collected at the house,” which is still being reviewed, and witness interview statements from the state police still need to be collected.
The next dates in this case are:
- February 1 (status re: discovery; Mortimer’s lawyer waived his presence, meaning he won’t be there)
- February 15 (filing date)
- March 9 (hearing on discovery and possibly motion to dismiss)