ROCK SPRINGS — Christopher James Nielsen will have to wait until at least the end of August before facing a jury in his first-degree murder trial.
Nielsen is on trial for the death of 5-year-old Anthony James Dean Radcliff while he was babysitting the boy on November 11, 2019.
Radcliff suffered severe brain trauma that evening and was hospitalized for two weeks before eventually succumbing to his injuries on Thanksgiving Day.
Nielsen’s attorney Rick Helsen filed for the continuance on May 8 largely because COVID-19 restrictions have “really hampered our ability to have meaningful contact with our client.”
Helsen said he’s spoken to a number of experts but hasn’t interviewed all the people he wants to at this time while building a defense for Nielsen. This is the first continuance filed in the case, and Nielsen has waived his right to a speedy trial.
State’s Request
Sweetwater County Attorney Dan Erramouspe did not object to the motion for continuance, but he was concerned about the resetting of the trial.
Erramouspe said court cases are being log-jammed and bottlenecked and its not certain if courts will even open by June or July to start hearing them.
He added that his office has multiple trials scheduled in August and asked Judge Suzannah Robinson to consider moving this trial further beyond the next jury stack to October.
Helsen suggested holding the trial in September which would “certainly give us both adequate time” to prepare. Robinson said her next stack is at the very end of August.
Erramouspe said for now that would be okay, but again his concerns focused on when the Wyoming Supreme Court will allow for in-person jury trials.
“There has been some concern that the Wyoming Supreme Court was going to make the decision of no jury trials until August,” Erramouspe said. “The other issue is the further down the road the easier it is to schedule our expert witnesses.”
He said some of those physicians have subpoenas in other states and his office has to work around those dates in order to get them scheduled for the Nielsen trial. Erramouspe said his office would accept the late August date, but “I can’t honestly say that’s going to be the best fit for us.”
Helsen suggested leaving the trial in August for now and then adjusting if need be when the Supreme Court makes a decision.
Robinson said despite making all the plans they want, there is no way of knowing what Governor Mark Gordon will decide in terms of orders moving forward.
“Robinson said for now she will schedule the trial for late August “with the knowledge that his may need to be addressed at a later date.”
