Man seeks trial delay; could face death penalty

A man possibly facing the death penalty wants to delay the start of his federal trial for another five months.

According to a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond, attorneys for Juan Briseno say they are still going through evidence turned over by federal attorneys and will not be ready to start by the scheduled trial date of April 7.

Along with the “mountain” of evidence the government has recently turned over, defense attorneys Arlington Foley and John Maksimovich say, they are also asking for even more evidence from prosecutors, which will take even more time to go over.

Additionally, they have hired a “mitigation expert” who would help present evidence against the death penalty if Briseno is found guilty, and the motion says the expert also needs more time to prepare.

Briseno was originally arrested two and a half years ago, in June 2011, in connection with one local homicide case.

The federal case kept growing, however, into a racketeering case that included 23 other defendants and that eventually led to Briseno being charged with murdering six people and attempting to murder four others.

Federal attorneys have announced that they will seek the death penalty against Briseno if he is found guilty.

Briseno’s attorneys are asking that the trial be delayed until at least September.

In their motion, they say that prosecutors are amenable to delaying the trial but not past July.