Contentious legal battle in Korey Kauffman murder case returns to Stanislaus County courtroom

For nearly four weeks, the massive courtroom at 12th and L streets in downtown Modesto remained dormant. The contentious arguments between attorneys returned Wednesday as testimony resumed in the Korey Kauffman murder case.

The preliminary hearing began in mid-October, but it’s been stalled at times because of scheduling conflicts and court holidays. And it’s 2 1/2 months away from reaching its conclusion. The stakes are still high with both sides mounting a determined, sometimes hostile stance on each issue introduced through testimony.

Frank Carson and five others are charged in the disappearance and slaying of Kauffman. Carson, a prominent Modesto defense attorney, is accused of recruiting a group of people to send a violent message to thieves repeatedly stealing antiques and scrap metal from his 5-acre property in Turlock.

There’s still crucial testimony ahead in this preliminary hearing. Robert Lee Woody, who is also charged with murder in Kauffman’s death, is expected to testify at some point as a prosecution witness. He is being prosecuted separately after deciding to cooperate with investigators.

The defense calls Woody a liar who at one point claimed sole responsibility for Kauffman’s death and is now changing his story to obtain a plea deal. The prosecutor has told the judge that Woody will be offered a plea deal, but that agreement has not been finalized.

Woody has told investigators he saw Pop-N-Cork store owners Baljit Athwal and Daljit Atwal in a scuffle with Kauffman on Carson’s property in late March 2012, moments before Kauffman was shot to death.

The preliminary hearing’s intent is to determine whether there is enough evidence for the defendants to stand trial. Authorities say Kauffman, 26, was last seen alive on March 30, 2012, leaving Mike Cooley’s Lander Avenue home. Cooley’s home and Carson’s property on Ninth Street were separated by a fence.

Testimony continued Wednesday morning with the cross-examination of prosecution investigator Kirk Bunch. Defense attorney Martha Carlton-Magaña’s line of questioning challenged the credibility of witnesses and the reliability of the three-year investigation.

Carlton-Magaña asked Bunch whether he coached Justin Reedy while questioning him about a confrontation with Carson. Bunch testified that he did not coach him: “I told him a statement (Sabrina) Romero had said.”

Romero was Reedy’s girlfriend, and they were Cooley’s neighbors when one of the encounters with Carson occurred. Romero didn’t hear the argument between Carson and Cooley, but her boyfriend did. In Bunch’s report about questioning Reedy and his girlfriend, the investigator wrote that Reedy detailed the confrontation with Carson after recalling what his girlfriend had told the investigator.

Bunch testified that Reedy did not overhear him questioning his girlfriend. When asked by the defense attorney whether Reedy had psychic abilities, the investigator answered with an emphatic “No.”

Carlton-Magaña also asked Bunch about claims that a man not connected to any of the defendants had threatened Kauffman’s life over money and tried to run him over with a dark-colored car. Those accounts came from Kauffman’s stepdad and his stepdad’s girlfriend, who said the incident occurred outside Kauffman’s home not long before the man disappeared, Bunch testified.

The defense attorney on Wednesday introduced as evidence an April 2012 missing-person flier asking for information related to Kauffman’s disappearance. The flier asked tipsters to call Turlock police or Bunch. The flier mentioned that a man had reportedly tried to run over Kauffman with a car and threatened to cut him from ear to ear a day before he disappeared.

Bunch has testified that Kimberly Stout spotted a black BMW stopped outside Kauffman’s home on March 28, 2012, and Robert Lee Woody was in the front passenger seat. She couldn’t see the driver but was sure it wasn’t either of the Pop-N-Cork store owners.

Stout told investigators that Kauffman said “the guys from the Pop-N-Cork” had just threatened to kill him. Authorities say Woody worked at the liquor store for its owners, brothers who spell their last names differently. She later told investigators that she believed Cooley had “set up” Kauffman over an alleged affair with Cooley’s girlfriend.

While arguing over an objection, Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira told the judge that Woody has admitted that he yelled out the violent threats at Kauffman two days before he disappeared. Woody also told investigators that he was a passenger in the car, with Baljit Athwal driving, when Kauffman was threatened.

Carlton-Magaña, Baljit Athwal’s attorney, argued that Woody made that allegation in 2015 after he had read a police report detailing that alleged encounter. She also said that Woody even mentions reading the police report as he’s being questioned by investigators.

Testimony is expected to continue through the end of the week. Stanislaus Superior Court officials have moved the case a few blocks to a former federal bankruptcy courtroom in downtown Modesto. The leased courtroom provides more space for the large number of defendants, attorneys, court staff and bailiffs.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Contentious legal battle in Korey Kauffman murder case returns to Stanislaus County courtroom."