Brianna Denison Case: James Biela ~ Guilty!

For the last 2 and a half weeks, I've been watching the trial of James Biela (See the photo on the left.) up in Reno.  KOLO has had a "live blog" up every day with Auburn Hutton at the keyboard in the courtroom giving us a "blow by blow" description of what was going on in the courtroom.   She did a fantastic job of letting us know what was happening.  There was a lot of testimony that was restricted/protected so for a fair amount of time, there were no live TV cameras running in there.  Yesterday, the prosecution and the defense finally got to their closing arguments and the jury got the case about 5:30pm last night.  They deliberated until about 7 and the judge sent them home. (Due to cost restrictions, the courthouse closes at 7pm. Period, everyone goes home.)  The jurors were back at it about 8:40am this morning and a few of us were trying to find information where ever we could find it.  I finally found the Reno Gazette Journal's Twitter presence and "followed" them.  They were giving hourly updates, more or less, so I was relaying what they said over to those who were lurking on the InSession board for Brianna.  Finally, about 1:30pm RGJ tweeted that the jury had reached a verdict.  We all scrambled to find some kind of coverage, but KOLO and RGJ came through for us.  KOLO had the live blog up and RGJ had a live stream video up for us. 
At about 2pm, the jury came back into the courtroom and handed their verdicts over. Here's a list of the charges and what they found:

• Count 1 is sexual assault, from the October 2007 rape in the parking garage at the University of Nevada. GUILTY
• Count 2 is kidnapping - the woman taken from outside her apartment in December 2007. GUILTY
• Count 3 is the sexual assault against that woman which allegedly happened in Biela's truck. GUILTY
• Count 4 is murder of Brianna Denison. It's open murder, which means the jury decides if it's first degree, second degree, or manslaughter. GUILTY OF 1ST DEGREE MURDER
• Count 5 is sexual assault - against Brianna Denison. GUILTY

The camera view of Biela was sort of from the back and one of his attorneys pretty much blocked any view of his face when the verdicts were read, but from what little I could see, he showed very little emotion. 
The court then took a short recess because one of the alternate jurors didn't make it back to the courthouse fast enough.  Court reconvened about 2:30pm and they began the opening statements for the penalty phase.  The prosecutors the jury to give him the death penalty and the defense wants the jury to give "Jimmy" life in prison without parole. 
I'm not going to give a blow by blow description of what happened, I'll post links to the two websites I found the most information on during the trial at the end of this post.  I'll be watching the live blog again tomorrow and hopefully watching a live stream video just to see what the defense is putting on.  They had a forensic psychologist on the stand when they stopped tonight and I'm sure she'll be back again tomorrow.  The defense will most likely be presenting witnesses most of the day tomorrow.  We'll see if the defense takes the whole day.  I'm not sure if the Reno/Nevada courts work on Saturdays, but I'm guessing they don't. So, we'll hear from the prosecution on Monday.  The prosecutor said in his opening statement that one of the things they were going to do is play the song that Brianna's brother, Brighton wrote for her.  I will have to make sure I've got the kleenex handy because I know I'm going to have tears when that plays.

Rest in Peace, Bri... Justice is yours.  My heart goes out to her family and friends.  I hope you all find peace...


Links:
The song written by Brighton Denison on MySpace: It's Not Time to Say Goodbye
Reno Gazette Journal coverage: http://www.rgj.com/article/20100527/NEWS01/100527004
KOLO8 coverage: http://www.kolotv.com/biela

A "Wow" Photo

Every once in a while you happen across a photo that makes you say "Wow!"... This afternoon, I found one of those. The Wallstreet Journal has a "Pictures of the Day" in their Photo Journal. I've had the pictures of the day in my Google reader for a while now, but this shot of a Sunrise at the Rams Island Light near Portland, Maine made me stop and admire the color and the composition of the shot. Kudos to Robert F. Bukaty from the Associated Press for a gorgeous photo.

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I've been avoiding posting on the blog for a bit now. One of the reasons is that there is really nothing "new" with most of the cases I've been watching.

Phil Spector is adjusting to life in the prison he's been assigned to (Corcoran) and his wife has been amazingly silent for the last couple weeks, so there is nothing new there. Especially since any kind of news about the two civil cases just doesn't make it into the main stream media. I keep searching though.. I'm really curious as to how the suit Spector brought against Robert Shapiro will turn out since Phil doesn't want to answer any questions in a deposition.. He just wants Shapiro to simply hand over the money..

Casey Anthony is still in jail waiting for the murder trial, which has been postponed with no definite start date thanks to Casey's new lawyer, Dr. Andrea Lyon. Apparently her teaching schedule is in conflict with the trial date that was orignially scheduled. So, the murder trial is postponed until sometime next year and there will be a status hearing in January. Meanwhile, the prosecution wants to push ahead on the financial fraud charges stemming from Casey's theft of Amy Huizenga's money and checks. During a meeting with all the attornies invovled in the murder trial, the judge requested something in writing from Amy invoking her right to a speedy trial. It'll be interesting to see how Jose Baez will try to squirm out of that..

I'm also watching for news about the murderer of Brianna Denison, James Biela. He's tried twice now to have all the charges against him split into separate cases instead of trying them all in one trial. He's failed at both attempts to have the cases split with the latest attempt having been denied in June. No word yet about when the trial will happen up in Reno.

There are a few other cases that I look for information on, but it's hard to find anything about. I'm not going to list them out until I find some kind of update. The problem right now with watching the news (Both print and televised) is that the majority of what we're seeing is all about Michael Jackson. Apparently we are supposed to hear all the rumors about him, his children, his ex-wives, drugs, illnesses, etc, etc, etc... I'm sorry, but I am tired of hearing all about this stuff. I've enjoyed his music, but I've never been a fan of the man. (shrugging my shoulders)

And so, to close, here's an LOL Cat that I shared on facebook last night:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures
Yep, I do feel like I'm in a rut... lol.. How about you?

Brianna Denison Case: 1 Trial Ordered for Biela!

Well, James Biela lost his bid to have three separate trials for abducting, raping and murdering Brianna Denison and assaulting two other women there in Reno. He will be facing all the charges for all three attacks in one trial in February, 2010. Good for the judge!
From The Reno Gazette Journal:

The Reno man accused of raping and killing Brianna Denison and sexually assaulting two other female college students more than a year ago will be tried on charges involving all three attacks at the same time.

Washoe District Judge Robert Perry denied a request by public defenders for James Michael Biela to severe the three cases for fear he wouldn't receive a fair trial if they were combined.

Biela is scheduled to go to trial in February on charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the abduction and murder of the 19-year-old Denison last January.

Under Perry's ruling Monday, he also will face at that time the two additional counts of sexual assault in the attacks on the two other women on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Brianna Denison Case: Lawyer for Biela argues for 3 separate trials

I missed seeing this article about the accused murderer of Brianna Denison in the news yesterday...  I found it this morning while surfing through a few of the old links I have for newpapers and stations that have an online presence.  Believe it or not, I was looking for articles about fires and the preparations for the upcoming fire season.   I feel bad that I hadn't been keeping up with the case over the last few months since James Biela was charged with Brianna's murder.   To be honest, I wasn't even aware that they had combined Brianna's case with the other two cases.  And that makes me feel even worse!  I need to keep this one on my list of active cases to watch.  When Brianna first disappeared in January of last year, I was watching the news for information like crazy, as well as keeping my eyes open for her when I was out and about.  After all, I live only 3 or so hours away from Reno where she disappeared from.  In my eyes, it was entirely possible that a kidnapper could have headed down through the mountains and into Northern California.   Sadly, Brianna never actually left Reno.  She was kidnapped, raped, murdered and then dumped right there in Reno.  I'll keep an eye on the Reno paper in the future to see what the judge rules....
From the Reno Gazette Journal:

The strangulation of Brianna Denison, the rape of another woman at gunpoint in a parking garage and the abduction and sexual assault of a third woman were all distinctly different crimes, and each should be tried separately, a lawyer for James Biela argued Friday.
"They would like the court to believe there was a similar attack pattern," Deputy Public Defender Jay Slocum said of the prosecutors. "Our contention was there is not."
But Deputy District Attorney Elliott Sattler cited a list of similarities among the three cases -- they occurred near the university, late at night, against women who had similar builds -- and asked Washoe District Judge Robert Perry to keep the cases together.
"What we have here is a man who basically is a predator," Sattler said.
Sattler said Biela conducted "sexually motivated attacks on unsuspecting
college-aged girls. The facts, they all point to the same person committing all of these acts one month after the other."
Perry said he would announce his decision on the request on Monday or Tuesday. At present, the trial is set for Feb. 22, 2010. If Perry separated the three charges, Sattler said he would keep that date for the Denison trial, and hold the two others sooner, in chronological order.
Denison, a Reno native, was a 19-year-old student at Santa Barbara City College when she disappeared from a friend's house near the University of Nevada, Reno campus early on Jan. 20, 2008. Her body was found on Feb. 15, 2008, in a field in southeast Reno.
Biela also is charged with raping a UNR student on about 10 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2007, as she headed toward her car. She testified at Biela's preliminary hearing that she was grabbed from behind and raped on the ground. She did not report the attack until January, and no DNA evidence was saved.
Another woman told police she was at her car outside her apartment about 2 a.m. on
Dec. 17, 2007, when she was grabbed from behind, taken away in a car and forced to have oral sex. The attacker then returned her to her car and left.
Connecting the two sexual assaults with the highly publicized Denison case would be unfairly prejudicial against Biela, Slocum told the judge.
"The jury may likely use evidence of the publicity and unfairly apply that to the other cases," he said. The jury also might see stronger evidence in one case and "piggyback the weaker case on the stronger one and convict."
He also said each attack was different.
The attacker used a firearm when he raped the woman in the parking garage, and she later told police that she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from the attack. The attacker didn't have a gun during the December attack, he took the woman away, then returned her, Slocum said.
And in the Denison case, she was abducted, raped and strangled, he said.
"The difference is pretty marked between all three situations," he said.
But Sattler said the attacks shared a common scheme.
"They were all conducted within that 400-foot radius on North Virginia Street," he said. The two rapes were "basically across the street from each other. That's how close these are. I would suggest that you could throw a rock from one place to the other.
"They are crimes of opportunity in that he puts himself there," Sattler said. "He's waiting for somebody to come by, so he can attack them. And he attacks in a similar way."

Suspect Arrested in Brianna Dennison Murder!

Finally! There has finally been an arrest in the Brianna Denison case! According to the Reno Gazette Journal, investigators have a man in custody.

Reno police on Tuesday arrested a Sparks man in connection with the slaying of Brianna Denison, ending a 10-month hunt for the man who abducted the 19-year-old Reno High School graduate from a friend's home in January.

James Biela was booked into the Washoe County Jail on charges of murder, kidnapping in the first degree and sexual assault but could not confirm he is the suspect in the Denison case.

Reno police took a DNA sample from the suspect and said it would take 12 hours to process.

Police spokesman Steve Frady issued a one-sentence news release announcing a news conference at 10:30 a.m. today. He would not say whether the suspect was arrested in Reno or elsewhere.

I found out about the arrest earlier today when I visited California Fire News and saw the post that Bob had put up about it. Check into his entry because it looks like he is updating the information as it comes out. The story isn't exactly an "on topic" post for the Fire news blog, but Bob had followed the story of Brianna's murder closely and has put several posts in the blog about the case.

As he said in the comments section of his post today... "What a great Thanksgiving gift to the world!" Brianna's family definitely has something to be thankful for tomorrow. Her murderer is in custody, finally. Anyway, I'm off to read some more news... If I don't manage to post again today, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Update:
The Reno Gazette Journal has a blog about the case that they are updating periodically. Check it out Here.

Brianna Denison - A communities tragic love story

A memorial for Brianna Denison, the coed that was kidnapped and murdered by a predator in Reno Nevada last month. The article includes a song written, produced and recorded by Brianna's younger brother, Brighton and his friend, Danielle DeTomaso.

read more | digg story

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This is my first try for adding a story from somewhere else. I added this story from the CalFire blog earlier today by using the Digg site. In other words, I submitted it to Digg and then linked it here. (It was my first time submitting something to the Digg site too! lol) Confusing stuff, but it's here nonetheless. It's well worth the read, and do listen to the song that her brother and his friend wrote, produced and recorded. Have some tissues handy too.

Here's another link to the CalFire blog:

Brianna Denison - A communities tragic love story

Brianna Denison Found

In Honor of Brianna Denison

Another young person found dead. The 20 year old college student, Brianna Denison disappeared last month, Jan. 20th, from an apartment where she was sleeping on a sofa. The investigators have linked her disappearance to other assault cases in that area through DNA. Yesterday, Reno police were led to a vacant field in the Southern part of Reno, about 8 miles away from the house that Briana was taken from. They just announced that the body found was identified as Briana. The cause of death was strangulation. My heart goes out to her family. In the article I have open in my browser from the Nevada Appeal it says that the family asks for blue ribbons to be hung to honor Brianna. My blue ribbon hangs right here on this blog and I also will be hanging a blue ribbon out on my front gate shortly.

I hope that the police can find the serial rapist who has done this soon, before he kidnaps and kills again. Up until now, his crimes were kidnap, assault and rape. And now he's escalated his crimes to add murder to the list. How soon will he feel the "urge" again? He needs to be caught before he strikes again.

There are too many missing people out there. Somewhere. Some gone by their own choice, but so terribly many others who are gone because there are sick people who have no regard for human life. Just look at the list of missing persons on the America's Most Wanted website. Or the National Center for Missing Adults website. And then you have the missing children, look at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website. There are hundreds of websites devoted to finding the missing people. It's enough to break your heart.