Defendant, prosecutor argue over request to delay capital murder trial

Mark Edward Mesiti, who is accused of sexually abusing and killing his teenage daughter, told a judge Thursday that conditions at the Stanislaus County Jail have interfered with his preparations for trial.

Mesiti, 49, has been in the jail since June 2011 and chose to act as his own attorney in October 2015. Jail officials keep Mesiti shackled anytime he’s outside his cell as a security precaution. Mesiti said Thursday that the shackling has made his preparations take four to five times longer.

“I don’t want any more privileges than a lawyer, but I would like the same considerations,” Mesiti said.

The defendant is asking the court to postpone his Feb. 6 trial. Mesiti is charged with murder and more than 40 counts of sexually abusing his daughter, as well as sexual abuse charges involving two other girls. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

On March 25, 2009, the body of 14-year-old Alycia Mesiti was found buried in the backyard of the Ceres home where her father lived at the time of her disappearance in August 2006.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees argued that Mesiti has misled the court with claims of adverse jail conditions stalling his preparations for trial. The prosecutor told the judge that Mesiti presented “zero evidence” he was assaulted, or injured from shackles, and lost numerous documents when sewage spilled into his jail cell Oct. 21.

Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Madru testified that only a small amount of water went into Mesiti’s cell, and the defendant had placed his paperwork on his bed before leaving for court that afternoon.

Mesiti told the judge that on March 7 he was moved out of a large cell with shelves, plastic storage containers for his paperwork and a desk at the sheriff’s Public Safety Center in south Modesto. The defendant argued that he was moved to a cell at the downtown Modesto jail that was in a “Bermuda Triangle” surrounded by constant noise where hundreds of inmates are processed nearby.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Steven Verver testified Thursday that Mesiti is a maximum-security inmate in protective custody at the jail. “We have to be careful of who he can be around to keep him safe,” the sergeant said.

Refused cellmate

Verver said Mesiti was moved out of the Public Safety Center, because the defendant refused to have a cellmate in a two-man cell he was in. A court ruling in another case created guidelines for jail officials in terms of available beds for inmates.

A jail roster list shows only one inmate was moved into Mesiti’s former cell at the Public Safety Center on the day the defendant was moved to the downtown jail. But Verver testified that the roster list shows only information from that day, and it’s unclear in the roster list if a second inmate was moved into that cell.

Mesiti’s cell at the downtown jail did not have access to a phone, and he remained in that cell from March 7 to May 18 before he was moved to another cell with access to a phone. Rees argued that 95 calls were made with Mesiti’s personal identification number in those first two months at the downtown jail, but only 10 of those calls were actually made by Mesiti.

The prosecutor told the judge that complaints about the shackling have been litigated in court twice before with two judges upholding the sheriff’s security policies. Rees also said Mesiti can use his bed frame as a writing surface inside his cell and sit on the mattress.

Feb. 6 trial still scheduled

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Dawna Reeves said she will review the information submitted. The defendant will return to court Jan. 19, when the judge could issue a ruling.

For now, the judge ordered both sides to continue preparing as if the trial will begin Feb. 6 as scheduled.

Reeves also asked jail officials in the courtroom to work with county counsel and the prosecutor on providing a desk for Mesiti to use at the jail during trial, which will be helpful to the process after long days in court. She said she doesn’t want to issue an order to sheriff’s officials, but she might have to if she wants to get this trial started and keep it moving toward a conclusion.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Defendant, prosecutor argue over request to delay capital murder trial."