DEFENSE attorney Joey McDoulett has filed a motion for a mistrial in the jury trial of his client, Calvin Tagabuel, citing a violation of his right to due process.
Tagabuel, 48, has been charged with second-degree murder. He is accused of causing Lark Kasian’s death by delivering a single punch to Kasian’s face, rendering him unconscious and causing him to fall onto the concrete floor, where he struck the back of his head.
McDoulett filed a 10-page motion following the testimony of Department of Public Safety Detective Shannon Dela Cruz on the second day of the jury trial. Dela Cruz testified about a prior altercation involving Kasian, 44.
In his motion for a mistrial, McDoulett said, “As part of her testimony, Detective Dela Cruz was asked to identify individuals who had been caught on video engaged in an altercation with Mr. Kasian prior to the punch delivered by Calvin Tagabuel.”
Dela Cruz identified two individuals: Todson Sachuo and David Norita.
“On cross-examination, Detective Dela Cruz testified that she learned on Feb. 11, 2025, not in the course of her investigation, that David Norita was the name of the person appearing on the surveillance video during the altercation with Mr. Kasian,” the defense attorney said.
“Dela Cruz initially testified that the person who provided the identity of David Norita was a co-worker or … co-workers,” McDoulett said.
“Following several follow-up questions as to the identity of the co-worker, Dela Cruz finally identified the person who revealed David Norita’s identity — Chester Hinds, the chief prosecutor,” he added.
During the trial, McDoulett requested a sidebar to discuss “the issue of an apparent failure to disclose vital exculpatory information to the defense.”
In his motion, he said the government “has withheld three pieces of evidence, namely: 1) the identification of David Norita as one of the attackers of Lark Kasian during the early morning hours of January 6, 2025; 2) the fact that David Norita is a violent criminal currently facing charges for assault and assault and battery; and 3) the fact that a named witness, Todson Sachuo, changed his story from that provided to the police concerning the identity of David Norita.”
McDoulett said the prosecution “was well aware of the defense theory that the injuries suffered by Lark Kasian were more likely caused by one or both of the previous violent encounters Mr. Kasian engaged in prior to being punched by Mr. Tagabuel …. The fact that one of the previous attackers captured on video was known to be a violent offender and is currently being prosecuted for a similar crime is clearly material and exculpatory.”
“Another concern,” McDoulett said, “is for the prosecutor to conduct investigations in order to provide his witnesses with the testimony he intends to elicit from the witness while concealing the same facts from the defense.”
McDoulett said Tagabuel’s “6th Amendment right to confrontation is stymied by this back door method of the prosecutor feeding the witness with information to be elicited on the stand. The facts just suddenly appear unattached to any identifiable source. A person’s life and liberty are at stake. The game of hide-the-ball, find-it-if-you-can discovery is intolerable. The defense is left wondering what other witnesses have been influenced in this manner or changed their testimony based on information supplied to them by the prosecution.”
McDoulett said because “of the prosecution’s demonstrated tactic of feeding specific information to his witness for the purpose of later eliciting that testimony while simultaneously concealing that information from the defense,” the court should dismiss with prejudice the case against his client.
Superior Court Judge Joseph N. Camacho, who is presiding over the trial, excused the jurors and instructed them to return on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 9 a.m.
The judge will hold a hearing on the mistrial motion today, Friday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m.
Seated at the defense table with McDoulett is investigator Jeremy Wolfe, while Assistant Attorney General Heather Barcinas is prosecuting the case alongside Hinds.
Four government witnesses have so far testified: George Babauta, DPS officer; Joseph Cing, EMT; Mary Louise Tanaka, DPS evidence custodian and crime scene technician; and Shannon Dela Cruz, DPS detective.
The prosecution said it will call 15 witnesses and present video footage of the incident.
In her opening statement on Wednesday, Barcinas said Tagabuel was charged with second-degree murder for the unlawful killing of Kasian, with malice afterthought. “To kill with malice afterthought means to kill either deliberately or [intentionally] with reckless disregard for human life,” she added.
McDoulett, for his part, said Tagabuel is a “father, a family man, a hard worker, a protector, and also an innocent man.”
McDoulett also told jurors that there is no evidence to prove that “a single punch resulted in [Kasian’s] catastrophic injuries,” adding that his client acted in self-defense.
