JEFFERSON COUNTY - The judge nixed a request from Michael Blagg’s public defenders to declare a mistrial Thursday morning following what they said were improper statements made by the mother of his slain wife.
Marilyn Conway, whose daughter is Jennifer Blagg, was called to the witness stand on Wednesday afternoon. Attorneys from both sides had fiercely debated what she could and could not discuss during her testimony in the months, weeks and days leading up to the trial.
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Tina Fang, one of Michael Blagg’s public defenders, had asked for a mistrial after Conway accidentally implied there had been a previous trial. She also took issue with a comment Conway made saying Blagg was “completely responsible” — something prosecutors said actually related to the trove of porn found on the computer at the family’s quiet two-story home just outside Grand Junction.
Chief Deputy Mesa County District Attorney Mark Hand said that Conway had mentioned the previous trial because she was confused by a transcript Fang had given her during cross-examination, and didn’t mean any harm. He also brought up the fact that the previous trial had been mentioned by accident multiple times during testimony.
Fang said she believed Conway was intentionally trying to cause a mistrial and asked that she be thrown out as a witness.
This is Michael Blagg’s second trial for the death of his wife, Jennifer. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2004, but that conviction was overturned after a juror was caught lying her questionnaire about being the victim of domestic violence.
Now, the case is being retried in Jefferson County. It was moved here because of its notoriety on the Western Slope.
This trial is two weeks behind schedule, and is now in week four. The prosecution is expected to rest its case on Friday, and the defense expects to take two weeks, give or take.
Prosecutors say during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2001, Michael Blagg shot his wife Jennifer in the head while she was sleeping, loaded her body into the family minivan and then threw her into the dumpster at his office, Ametek Dixson.
That afternoon, Michael Blagg returned home from work and called 911. He told police he found the back door ajar and saw a jewelry box thrown on the floor of the master bedroom. There was a large splatter of blood on Jennifer Blagg’s side of the bed.
Michael Blagg’s wife and their 6-year-old daughter Abby were gone.
The defense alleges that a child predator killed Jennifer and kidnapped Abby, and that ever since, the now-55-year-old has been the victim of a tainted investigation operating under the false assumption that it’s “always the husband.”
Abby has not been found to this day. Wednesday would have been her 23rd birthday.
Testimony in the Michael Blagg trial continues all day on Thursday. 9NEWS is in the courtroom and will post updates to 9NEWS.com during breaks.