Prosecutors call Rossum's bid for new trial baseless

Defense cites jury instructions, negative publicity

Kristin Rossum's claims that she didn't get a fair trial are baseless, prosecutors say in court papers.

Attorneys for the former county toxicologist convicted of murdering her husband are asking for a new trial because the judge refused to tell jurors she didn't flee while out on bail before they began deliberations last month.

"A defendant has no right to an absence of flight instruction," prosecutors Daniel Goldstein and David Hendren wrote in their response filed in San Diego Superior Court on Monday.

The defense also said Rossum received an unfair trial because her case drew widespread negative publicity, which they said favored the prosecution's case.

If Judge John Thompson does not grant Rossum's request at her sentencing hearing tomorrow, Rossum's attorneys have asked him to eliminate the allegation that she used "poison" to kill her husband Nov. 6, 2000.

If Thompson denies both of those requests, Rossum is scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On Nov. 12, a jury convicted Rossum of poisoning her husband, Gregory de Villers, with the powerful narcotic painkiller fentanyl in their La Jolla apartment. Two other narcotics also were found in his body.

In response to the defense's request for a new trial, prosecutors argued that the jury became "well aware that the defendant cooperated with the police by consenting to interviews and searches. Additionally, the jury saw the defendant appear in court each day – they knew the defendant was facing the charges and not fleeing."

Rossum's lawyers also argued that Judge Thompson wrongly denied several pretrial motions, including a request to move the trial to another county.

Prosecutors countered that the judge's decisions were proper.

"There is every reason to believe some percentage of the population will remember the defendant's name and something relating to the current charges. But this fact does not mandate a change of venue," they said.

They also noted that Thompson ordered the jury not to read or listen to any news coverage of the trial or discuss the trial until deliberations.

"Although the trial events were discussed in the news on a nearly daily basis, there is no reason to believe that any of the jurors violated the court order," prosecutors said.


