Former CHP officer, co-defendant to Frank Carson in murder case, released on bail

A former California Highway Patrol officer who was among nine people accused of murder in a Turlock man’s death has been released from custody after spending 16 months in the county jail.

Walter Wells, 35, was released Tuesday night on $50,000 bail after a judge granted a request to drastically reduce his bail from $10 million, said Timothy Rien, Wells’ Livermore-based attorney.

Wells had been held at the jail since his Aug. 14, 2015, arrest along with co-defendants, who include prominent Modesto attorney Frank Carson.

Authorities believe Korey Kauffman, 26, was shot to death in late March 2012 after he was caught trying to steal scrap metal from Carson’s Ninth Street property in Turlock. Kauffman’s remains were found in August 2013 in a remote area of the Stanislaus National Forest in Mariposa County.

On Wednesday, Rien said prosecutors have conceded they will not argue in support of the murder charge against Wells. But the prosecution will ask the judge to order a trial for Wells on felony charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and acting as an accessory after the alleged murder was committed.

The allegation that Wells acted as an accessory is new, and the defendant has not been formally charged with that crime. Rien said there isn’t sufficient evidence to support any of the allegations against his client, and the prosecution is just trying another charge like a new pair of pants.

“It’s not going to fit either,” Rien said. “If you can’t get the murder charge, you try something else.”

John Goold, a spokesman for the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors were unable to proceed further on the murder charge against Wells because of a court ruling regarding certain evidence. He said Wells’ bail was then reduced accordingly.

Wells has appeared in court for the past 14 months as one of six defendants, including Carson, involved in a preliminary hearing that appears to be the longest court hearing of its kind in Stanislaus County history. The three other defendants are being prosecuted separately.

The prosecution’s case against Wells has rested. Rien and his client are waiting for testimony to end for the remaining defendants. The judge has asked Wells and his attorney to periodically check on the progress of the preliminary hearing and return to the courtroom when necessary.

For now, Wells remains formally charged with murder. But Rien said that murder charge will be dropped once the judge hears closing arguments at the end of the preliminary hearing, tentatively scheduled to begin early next month.

Robert Lee Woody, who was the first arrested in the case, has said he lied on July 22, when he told the prosecutor and two investigators that he saw Carson and Wells at Carson’s property around the time he witnessed Kauffman’s death.

Woody, who agreed to a plea deal in exchange for his testimony, has said he felt pressured after a visit from his mother to incorporate into his statement “certain embellishments that were created by and testified to by his mother in a misguided attempt to assist in the prosecution of the case.”

Even if Wells was convicted of conspiracy and accessory, Rien said, he would then be released for time already served in jail. Rien on Tuesday afternoon asked the judge to release Wells on his own recognizance.

Judge Barbara Zuniga wouldn’t do that, but she agreed to reduce Wells’ bail to $50,000.

“We’re glad we could get him home before Christmas,” Rien said of Wells.

The judge ordered Wells to hand over his passport, stay in the county unless he has to visit his attorney’s office, stay away from co-defendants and witnesses in the case except his family and stay away from the Pop-N-Cork liquor store in Turlock. Brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal own the Pop-N-Cork liquor store in Turlock, and Woody worked at the store.

Woody has testified the brothers were fighting with Kauffman on Carson’s property when Kauffman was shot to death. He also has claimed that Kauffman’s body was buried just outside the store. The liquor store owners are also charged with murder in Kauffman’s death and remain in jail, along with Carson.

The charges against Wells and some of his co-defendants, including Carson, included special circumstance allegations that made the case eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors on Aug. 25 announced they would not seek the death penalty for any of the defendants.

Rien said the case against Wells started with the threat of the death penalty and could end with all charges dropped. He said it shows a collapse in the case against his client, and the prosecution has “burned through a lot of resources” to prove its theory Wells was involved in Kauffman’s death.

Wells had been with the CHP for seven years until June 2015 when his employment ended as a result of conduct unrelated to the murder investigation, according to the CHP.

Former CHP officers Eduardo Quintanar Jr. and Scott McFarlane are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and being accessories in Kauffman’s death. Their employment with the CHP ended in fall 2015. They, along with Woody, are being prosecuted separately.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Former CHP officer, co-defendant to Frank Carson in murder case, released on bail."