Flurry of motions filed in Dasen case
Lawyer asks for charges to be dimissed
At the 11th hour, over a pound of paper was filed in the Dick Dasen Sr. prostitution case.
Dasen's attorney, George Best, met a Friday deadline for filing motions, which include requests for dismissal for lack of a speedy trial, suppression of virtually all evidence and movement of the trial outside of Flathead County.
Dasen, 62, has pleaded innocent to promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion of prostitution, sexual intercourse without consent and sexual abuse of children.
In motions filed Friday, Best asks District Judge Stewart Stadler to dismiss all charges, saying that Dasen has been denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
"The defense cannot adequately prepare for trial, given the delays caused by the state," the motion says.
In a motion to exclude witnesses and exhibits, Best accuses prosecutors of "purposely concealing and/or preventing the defendant from interviewing" prosecution witnesses.
On October 7, Best was given 22 CDs. Thirteen of them were marked as interviews conducted in February. Best says he and Dasen can't adequately prepare for a trial scheduled in three months with that volume of evidence to examine.
In addition, Best filed a motion to suppress all evidence taken from Dasen's home and offices at Peak Development and Budget Finance. Search warrants used to seize the evidence violate state and federal law, Best said. Also, all CDs, statements and transcripts provided by prosecutors should be suppressed because they are "unintelligible and/or inaccurate transcriptions and/or are incomplete."
Best asks that if a trial is held, it be moved outside of Flathead County because of pre-trial publicity. Media coverage "all has been designed to poison the jury pool," Best said.
In another motion, Best asks that all statements, transcripts or evidence taken from Dasen be suppressed because they were obtained by "illegal search, unlawful arrest and violation of Miranda warning or obtained by coercion."
In his sixth motion, Best asks Kalispell Police Department to return to Dasen any evidence it holds or produce copies of it. The department has boxes of evidence it says are largely irrelevant, Best writes. If it is, it should be returned, he maintains.
Best also asks that all of the prosecutor's evidence in the case be submitted to him. Evidence has been held for eight months, while charges against Dasen have been amended twice, Best's motion says. "The state piece-mealed evidence ordered by this court to be delivered to defendant," he said.
As he filed those motions, Best also filed his first notice of witnesses and exhibits in the case.
He submitted transcripts of interviews with two women in the case, Valerie Hondias and Carrie Halama.
Best also lists 35 witnesses in his defense case.
They include Dasen's wife, Susan; Kalispell Regional Medical Center administrators Jim Oliverson and Velinda Stevens; several business leaders, including Ray Thompson of Semitool; and legislators Verdell Jackson and George Everett.
Earlier this week, prosecuting Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski filed notice of more than 7,470 exhibits and 58 witnesses he wants to use at trial.
On Wednesday, no witnesses or exhibits had yet been submitted to the court from Best. Stadler extended until Friday a deadline for Best to file motions in the case.
Stadler scheduled a monthlong trial for Dasen, beginning in January
Dasen, a longtime Kalispell businessman, allegedly paid millions of dollars to women for sex over the course of 20 years. One was reportedly 15, prompting the charge of sexual intercourse without consent because children under the age of 16 are presumed incapable of legally consenting to sex.
The abuse charge relates to photos Dasen allegedly took of girls engaged in sex acts.
Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com