Ex-CHP officer accused in murder case has a new lawyer: his former co-defendant

Modesto attorney Frank Carson, who has been acquitted of murder, was in court Tuesday asking a judge to dismiss charges against his co-defendant, a former California Highway Patrol officer who is set to stand trial in the homicide case.

Walter Wells faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and acting as an accessory in connection. Wells is accused of conspiring with Carson and brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal in connection with the death of Korey Kauffman.

In late June, a jury found Carson and the brothers not guilty in Korey Kauffman’s death. Carson is now one of Wells’ two defense attorneys, and he argued Tuesday that the June verdict should’ve served as a message that the jurors didn’t believe the prosecution’s witnesses.

“The acquittals read that day should’ve acted as a dagger in the heart of prosecution,” Carson told the judge. “(The prosecution) had their day in court. They had an excruciating day in court. They had a humiliating day in court.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira argued that Wells was not a defendant in the murder trial that ended in June. The prosecutor said the jury has not decided whether Wells is guilty of his charges.

Ferreira told the judge that evidence pertaining to Wells was presented in that trial tangentially, and his case has not been litigated in front of a jury. She said there was never a factual finding in Wells’ case, only a court ruling ordering Wells to stand trial.

Prosecutors alleged that Kauffman was killed after he was caught on Carson’s property trying to steal irrigation pipes. The defense argued that this was a vindictive prosecution intent on ruining Carson’s career.

Kauffman, 26, of Turlock went missing in 2012; his body was found more than a year later in a remote area of the Stanislaus National Forest in Mariposa County.

Carson told the judge that she has the power to stop this prosecution against Wells. The defense attorney asked the court how the prosecution could believe Wells is guilty when his co-defendants have been cleared of all wrongdoing.

“It’s insane,” Carson said.

Wells initially was charged with murder in Kauffman’s death. After spending 16 months in Stanislaus County Jail, Wells in December 2016 was released from custody when Judge Barbara Zuniga reduced his bail amount of $10 million to $50,000. Prosecutors had decided at that point they would not be seeking a murder charge against Wells.

Carson on Tuesday asked the court to step in and put an end to this case now.

“This is the essence of justice,” Carson told the judge. “The jury got it right, and this just follows up with that.”

Zuniga denied the defense motion, saying she has no authority to dismiss the case against Wells based on “sympathy.”

Nine people were charged in connection with Kauffman’s disappearance and death. Robert Lee Woody, the only person convicted in the case, received a plea deal in exchange for testifying against the other defendants.

Two other CHP officers, Eduardo Quintanar and Scott McFarlane, were arrested and charged in the Kauffman murder case. Wells, Quintanar and McFarlane were sanctioned by the CHP and no longer work for the agency. A preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin last month for McFarlane, who faced an accessory charge in connection with Kauffman’s death. But that hearing was canceled Oct. 21, when the accessory charge against McFarlane was dismissed.

Quintanar, who was charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and being an accessory, has been cleared of wrongdoing. The State Personnel Board found in May that “the CHP’s discipline was far too heavy-handed and that Officer Quintanar should return as an officer with the CHP,” said Terry Leoni, Quintanar’s attorney. When Quintanar can return to duty remains unclear. The CHP has refused the State Personnel Board’s order, Leoni has said.

Robert Forkner, Wells’ other attorney, has said taxpayer dollars have been wasted on a case that has resulted in acquittals and cases thrown out of court.

Forkner on Tuesday told the judge that he will file another motion to dismiss the case based on conduct by the prosecution in the past 60 days. The judge scheduled the attorney to return to court Dec. 19 to argue over that defense motion.

This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 12:53 PM.