Strong’s attorney seeks new trial
One of the jurors knew of prior murder conviction, lawyer says
The lead attorney who represented Preston Strong in his capital murder trial filed a motion Friday afternoon in Yuma County Superior Court seeking a new trial, saying that one of the jurors knew about his client’s previous murder conviction.
“He did not get a fair trial,” said attorney Ray Hanna, who co-represented Strong along with attorney Bill Fox, of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office. “Nobody can argue that this jury received information that was specifically precluded.”
Strong was convicted on April 25 of six counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 35-year-old Luis Rios, 29-year-old Adrienne Heredia, and her four children — 13-year-old Andres Crawford, 12-year-old Enrique Bedoya, 9-year-old Inez Newman and 6-yearold Danny Heredia following a 47-day trial.
The same jury who convicted Strong later determined that he should receive the death penalty, and on May 5, Yuma County Superior Court Judge Maria Elena Cruz sentenced him to die by lethal injection.
Hanna said that after the trial he and Fox were able to speak with six of the jurors, and that one of them admitted that she knew about Strong’s 2007 conviction for murder of Dr. Santinder Gill, for which he is serving two life terms in prison.
Jurors were not presented with any of the details of the Gill conviction until the penalty phase of Strong’s trial, after they had found him guilty of the “La Mesa Street” murders.
He further explained that the reason the juror did not say anything about it was because, in her mind, she believed she wasn’t specifically asked about it.
Also included in the motion was a request for a change of venue, with Hanna arguing that his client never should have been tried in Yuma County due to the publicity the case has received over the years.
“It is going to be even harder to receive a fair trial now because of all the
media coverage that has occurred,” Hanna said.
Hanna said he has asked for a hearing in the matter and expects to present some oral arguments and call witnesses. He anticipates that the hearing will be scheduled for sometime in early June.