Ceres murder defendant arraigned in daughter’s slaying

Mark Edward Mesiti was arraigned Wednesday despite his attorneys’ attempt to postpone the hearing because they say the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department is failing to comply with a court order.

Mesiti is accused of murder in the death of his daughter, 14-year-old Alycia Mesiti. Her body was found March 25, 2009, buried in the backyard of a Ceres home where Mesiti’s family lived before the girl disappeared in August 2006. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The judge started Wednesday afternoon’s hearing ready to arraign Mesiti, but defense attorneys Martin Baker and Doug Maner requested the postponement. Baker argued that the defense would have been able to proceed with the arraignment, but that sheriff’s officials had not complied with a court order to unshackle Mesiti’s writing hand during meetings with his attorneys at the jail.

Superior Court Judge John Freeland issued the order April 1. Because this is a death penalty case, the judge said the defendant needs to be able to point to and refer to the thousands of documents in his case. Mesiti has told the court that jail officials are depriving him of his constitutional right to meaningfully participate in his defense.

The Sheriff’s Department on April 20 filed an appeal, seeking to overturn Freeland’s ruling. The matter was pending Wednesday and it was unclear whether the state’s 5th District Court of Appeals will review the appeal and render a decision. The appellate court had not suspended the case.

Baker subpoenaed Sheriff Adam Christianson to testify in Wednesday’s hearing. Christianson was in the courtroom audience with an attorney representing the county in the matter.

The defense attorney wanted to call the sheriff to the witness stand to tell the judge whether he ordered jail officials not to comply with a court order. He argued that Christianson could face a misdemeanor contempt of court charge for knowingly disobeying a court order. Baker said he wasn’t suggesting the court have the sheriff arrested on the misdemeanor, he just wanted to question the sheriff under oath as part of the court’s record.

Freeland denied Baker’s request to question Christianson. He said whether the sheriff was aware of the court order or was in contempt of court doesn’t affect the defense motion to delay arraignment. The judge then allowed the attorneys to argue over the defense motion.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees objected to another defense postponement in the case and told the judge that Alycia Mesiti’s mother was in the courtroom and ready to ask the judge to stop the delays and move the case forward. The girl’s great-aunt tried to do the same thing in March, but she wasn’t allowed to speak in court because she wasn’t an immediate family member.

The judge on Wednesday decided that having the girl’s mother make a statement in court was a moot point because he denied the request to postpone the arraignment. “What I’m looking for is good cause to (postpone) the arraignment. ... I don’t find good cause,” Freeland said.

Along with the capital murder charge, Mesiti is charged with more than 40 counts of sexually abusing his daughter, as well as sexual abuse charges involving two other girls, according to a criminal grand jury indictment.

Mesiti on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied all special circumstances allegations.

The indictment allows prosecutors to skip the preliminary hearing phase and move straight to trial. It could be more than a year before Mesiti stands trial.

The trial is expected to last about six months. The prosecutor offered September 2016 as a possible start. But the defense attorneys said it’s too early to discuss possible trial dates.

Maner said they now have to file a variety of defense motions in the next 60 days, including one challenging the indictment. Criminal grand jury proceedings are conducted behind closed doors without the defendant or defense attorneys, so a motion challenging the indictment is commonplace.

Maner told the judge the issue of Mesiti’s shackles during meetings with attorneys remains unresolved pending the appeal, so jail officials will continue not to comply with the court order in the meantime. “And it’s slowing down the process,” Maner said about the preparations for defense motions.

Judge Freeland scheduled Mesiti to return to court May 21.

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Ceres murder defendant arraigned in daughter’s slaying."