Newberry case taking shape

Details about possible key witnesses and evidence are emerging in the case of Brandon Newberry, the 21-year-old Evergreen man accused of murdering a toddler in February.

Attorneys for both sides are building their cases. He faces one count of deliberate homicide.

Deputy County Attorney Andrew Clegg is collecting various communication records on Newberry, according to court briefs and hearings. Those include Facebook records and cellphone information.

Newberry’s public defenders tried unsuccessfully to dismiss the cellphone records from evidence.

Clegg has also amassed a forensic file that includes a hair sample from Newberry as well as medical examiner reports on the victim, 2-year-old Forrest Groshelle. The autopsy was performed by Dr. Walter Kemp, deputy state medical examiner. Kemp could also testify at trial.

That evidence is in addition to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Groshelle’s death.

Defense attorneys Vicki Fraizier and Greg Rapkoch have requested copies of the evidence as they put together their case. A motion filed by the public defenders on May 8 revealed more about the existing evidence.

In the motion, Newberry’s attorneys requested records of an investigation into a juvenile drug case. The suspect in that case stayed with Newberry in the same holding cell shortly after his arrest, according to the document.

The youth could be used as an informant as well for testimony in Newberry’s case, according to the document.  

The attorneys claim that the detective told the juvenile suspect that his admissions involving Newberry would not be used against him in his own case.

Fraizer and Rapkoch are also requesting information related to vandalism at the crime scene shortly after Newberry was arrested. Unknown suspects broke out the windows of a sport utility vehicle belonging to Newberry. They also spray-painted “burn in hell, Brandon” on the vehicle and drilled into the lock of the adjacent house.

The attorneys wrote in the motion that the vandalism investigation “offers important insight into whether the defendant can receive a fair trial in this community.” News outlets, including the Daily Inter Lake, have been contacted by attorneys in the case.

Newberry was arrested Feb. 18 after he dialed 911 to report an unresponsive child. Emergency responders declared Groshelle dead at the scene. According to court documents, Newberry was heard screaming “It’s my fault, it’s my fault” during the 911 call.

Groshelle was the son of Newberry’s girlfriend, Takara Juntunen.

The toddler’s death was attributed to injuries consistent with blunt force trauma to the abdomen.

A trial date is tentatively set for Sept. 21 but that could be pushed back. The case is now on its third judge in Flathead County District Court, and Frazier said on May 7 that she had not yet received all the evidence she requested.

Meanwhile, Newberry remains in the Flathead County Detention Center on $250,000 bail. Attorneys are scheduled to meet again in court on May 27.

Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.