Prosecutor testimony sought

The argument used in a 2008 trial to convince a jury to convict Jeramie R. Davis of murder has become a legal fight of its own.

The defense attorney for a second suspect is seeking to call the prosecutor as a witness in the upcoming trial.

Deputy Prosecutor Dale Nagy told a jury in 2008 that Davis acted alone in the killing of John G. “Jack” Allen Jr. But DNA evidence on the murder weapon prompted Nagy to charge a second man, 46-year-old Julio J. Davila, with the same killing. Both men claim to have no connection to the other even though investigators, according to court records, are now operating under the theory that the two men worked together.

Attorneys are scheduled to meet Monday at 4 p.m. as Davila’s attorney, Tom Krzyminski, asks Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor to compel Nagy to testify about Nagy’s closing argument in the Davis trial.

“One issue at trial was unidentified DNA found at the crime scene and in Mr. Allen’s vehicle. Mr. Nagy told the jury to disregard the unidentified DNA,” Krzyminski wrote in court records. “Mr. Nagy convicted Mr. Davis on the theory he acted alone. Mr. Davila has a right to present this to his jury.”

But Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Dan Catt argued against the subpoena, saying that Nagy’s closing argument was not evidence. Catt is seeking to allow Nagy to prosecute Davila in the April 23 trial.

Davila’s “efforts to call opposing counsel as a witness are misguided,” Catt wrote in court records, and amount “to a plea for jury nullification.”