Prosecutors ask court to keep Modesto defense attorney, 4 co-defendants in jail

Prosecutors are asking a judge to deny bail to a Modesto defense attorney and four co-defendants when they return Tuesday for their continued arraignment. They argue that releasing the five charged with murder would give them the opportunity to carry out threats against witnesses.

Defense attorney Frank Carson is accused of orchestrating a criminal conspiracy that resulted in the death of Korey Kauffman, 26, and the cover-up of his murder.

Attorneys for the defendants call this a case of malicious prosecution: an attempt to eliminate a successful criminal defense attorney who has been a staunch critic of the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. Carson unsuccessfully ran for district attorney last year, directing voters’ attention to what he called public corruption in police agencies throughout the county.

Authorities say Kauffman was known for “scrapping,” street slang for stealing metals to sell to recyclers. On the night of his disappearance, Kauffman left a friend’s home to steal irrigation pipes from Carson’s property, according to authorities.

Prosecutors on Friday filed an 18-page brief opposing the release of the five defendants on bail, which includes 12 pages listing alleged incidents of intimidation and threats toward the victim and witnesses in the case.

“Here, defendants have killed a man and threatened others in accomplishing their task,” according to the prosecution’s opposition. “In addition, the defendants have used firearms and brandished firearms showing they have access to weapons and no concern for using the weapons to kill those who get in their way.”

Prosecutors chose not to arrest defendant

Hans Hjertonsson, Daljit Atwal’s attorney, says in a response that prosecutors claim they had sufficient information to arrest his client 16 months ago but chose not to arrest him so they could continue the investigation into the other suspects.

“If (prosecutors) actually believed Mr. Atwal posed such a danger to other individuals they would have arrested him back in 2014,” Hjertonsson wrote in his response, filed Monday.

Judge Socrates Peter Manoukian, a visiting Superior Court judge from Santa Clara County, could issue a ruling on the defendants’ bail Tuesday. The attorneys could also ask the judge to schedule a lengthy evidentiary hearing, during which the investigators can be questioned on the witness stand.

A special circumstance allegation of lying in wait makes the case eligible for capital murder charges against the five defendants. A defendant facing the death penalty is required to stay in custody without bail until his or her case concludes.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira has said that prosecutors Tuesday should be able to decide whether they will seek the death penalty against those charged with murder.

Carson has been charged with murder, conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury.

Carson’s wife, Georgia DeFilippo; brothers Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal; and former California Highway Patrol Officer Walter Wesley Wells are charged with murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice in Kauffman’s death.

Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal, who own the Pop-N-Cork Liquor stores in Turlock, have claimed repeated harassment by law enforcement officials involved in the Kauffman slaying investigation and have organized protests outside the District Attorney’s Office in downtown Modesto. They also have filed a federal lawsuit against members of a local investigative task force looking into the slaying.

Robert Lee Woody, who was arrested last year, faces the same charges, but he is being prosecuted separately and has been transferred out of the Stanislaus County jail to a facility out of the county to ensure his safety.

Christina Anne DeFilippo, the daughter of Carson’s wife, and CHP Officers Scott McFarlane and Eduardo Quintanar Jr. are each charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and being an accessory. They were released on bail Aug. 14 and are scheduled to make their first court appearance Sept. 14.

Allegations of threats

Kirk Bunch, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office, authored the 12-page declaration supporting the prosecution’s opposition to bail. The document indicates that Carson was spotted threatening Kauffman before his death.

“Defendant Carson attempted to solicit a client to ‘take care of’ victim Korey Kauffman and discontinue defendant Carson’s problem with thefts on his property,” Bunch wrote.

Authorities believe Kauffman was killed March 30, 2012, on Carson’s property and that his body was secretly transported to Stanislaus National Forest in Mariposa County, where hunters discovered it Aug. 19, 2013.

Investigators found the young man’s remains with considerable bone loss, according to an arrest affidavit. The hands and foot bones were not present. Other bones also were missing, and the remains showed evidence of animals scavenging.

Woody’s statements to investigators were consistent with the location and condition of Kauffman’s remains. Woody said Kauffman’s remains were discarded by Baljit Athwal, so identification would be impossible, according to Bunch.

$250,000 bail sought

Martha Carlton-Magaña, Baljit Athwal’s attorney, says there is no evidence her client threatened anyone, and his bail should be set at $250,000. She argues that Woody has given at least five versions of the events surrounding Kauffman’s death, including statements secretly recorded by his girlfriend.

“Mr. Woody has bragged that he shot Mr. Kauffman by himself, chopped him up and spread the body to be eaten by pigs,” Carlton-Magaña wrote in her filed response to the prosecution.

In the past several years, law enforcement officials responded to reports of Carson confronting and arguing with people he believed were stealing from his property.

In May 2012, Carson made a list of people including Kauffman that he suspected were stealing, according to Bunch’s declaration. Kauffman was reported missing a month earlier.

Investigators say the attorney gave the list to Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal. The list also included vehicle descriptions for those on the list.

Bunch wrote that on March 30. 2012, the last day Kauffman was seen alive, witnesses spotted Carson, Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal “at the assault” of Kauffman on Carson’s property on Ninth Street in Turlock. Georgia DeFilippo also was there that day, and the defendants’ cellphones also show them on the property that day, according to the allegations.

A report of gunshots heard on March 30, 2012, also appeared to fit with a “mushroomed” bullet found in Kauffman’s pants.

“Mushrooming” is a term used to describe a hunting bullet’s tip expanding after hitting a target, preventing it from penetrating further into the target but also causing extensive damage to tissue along the wound.

Georgia DeFilippo later was concerned about whether investigators found a body when they served search warrants at Carson’s property, according to the declaration.

On March 28, 2012, two days before Kauffman was last seen alive, John Paden spotted a black BMW with tinted windows drive up to Kauffman’s home. Investigators say that Baljit Athwal and Woody were inside the car. Paden told investigators that someone inside the vehicle yelled out “Your ass is grass,” in a threatening manner, before the car left.

Chicken coop incident

Robert Jaquish told investigators that sometime from December 2011 through February 2012 he was caught trying to steal property from Carson’s property. He says he knew others had stolen items from there, so he entered through an opening in the fence behind the property.

Jaquish went into a large chicken coop filled with antiques and old cars, he told investigators, but the coop’s door was closed behind him. He said a white male armed with a rifle went into the coop looking for him, but he hid at the other end of the coop and used a crowbar to escape through the coop’s siding.

He returned to the fence opening to retrieve his bicycle, but a man jumped out of the bushes and grabbed the bike’s handlebars. The man was on a cellphone, telling someone he had him and to come over. He said the man had a bulge in his waistband that appeared to be a gun.

Jaquish told investigators he got away again, leaving his bicycle behind. He identified Carson in a photo as the man who grabbed his bicycle, according to Bunch. He didn’t identify the man with the rifle inside the coop. There were no calls to police regarding the Jaquish incident.

“This activity directly supports F. Carson’s dangerousness and willingness to carry and use firearms and failure to contact police when confronted with disputes concerning his property,” Bunch wrote.

This story was originally published August 24, 2015 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Prosecutors ask court to keep Modesto defense attorney, 4 co-defendants in jail."