Joseph Duncan

BOISE – Attorneys for convicted murderer Joseph Edward Duncan III are asking a federal judge to postpone his sentencing hearing on 10 federal charges until September, and to prevent the only surviving victim from testifying about the effect the deaths of her mother, older brother and family friend had on her. The flurry of defense motions, filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday and Wednesday, also include a request to take the death penalty off the table for one of the charges against Duncan.

BOISE – A federal judge has rejected defense attorneys' motions to suppress evidence seized from the vehicle Joseph Duncan was driving when he was found with young Shasta Groene, the only survivor of Duncan's bloody attack on her family.

BOISE – Shasta Groene told authorities that Joseph Duncan, during the weeks he held her captive at a remote Montana campsite, described killing at least three other children – a tip that prompted authorities to investigate Duncan as a possible serial killer. In federal court hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, documents submitted into evidence and testimony from law enforcement witnesses showed that the 8-year-old girl, just hours after her rescue from Duncan on July 2, 2005, told police about Duncan's possible prior crimes.

BOISE – The court-appointed advocate for Shasta Groene said in court papers Friday that even if the child doesn't have to testify against Joseph Duncan, it's in her best interest to have all the proceedings in his case wrapped up as soon as possible. John Sahlin, guardian ad litem for Shasta, argued that all proceedings in the case should be finished "on or before June 1, 2008, so that SG may have a summer to enjoy and prepare for her transition to public middle school, a major life transition for her."

BOISE – Shasta Groene won't have to testify in federal court against killer Joseph Duncan under an agreement reached by both sides in the case. "The parties will stipulate that S.G. will not be called as a witness at the capital sentencing hearing," federal prosecutors wrote in a motion filed with the court this week. "Her testimony will be presented by statements she made to law enforcement officers in July 2005."

Joseph Duncan's decision to plead guilty to capital crimes without an agreement to avoid a death sentence is unusual but not unprecedented, said attorneys familiar with death penalty cases. "It is more common for people to plead guilty after death is taken off the table," said Jacqueline McMurtrie, a professor at the University of Washington Law School.

BOISE – As Joseph Duncan awaits a federal trial that could bring a death sentence, the notorious North Idaho murderer's case is becoming the focus of arguments about whether the federal death penalty is even constitutional. Duncan's attorneys have filed legal arguments saying the federal death penalty is imposed so rarely – it's resulted in only three executions in the past 40 years – that it's clearly arbitrary and unfair. Most crimes just as horrendous as those that draw the death penalty result in lesser sentences, for no apparent reason, the lawyers argue.

BOISE – Attorneys for convicted murderer Joseph Duncan have filed papers in court seeking to have his federal indictment for kidnapping, killing and child molesting thrown out because they contend Idaho's grand juror selection rules are unconstitutional. A federal grand jury indicted Duncan on 10 counts last January. His federal trial is scheduled to start in January.

BOISE – Joseph Duncan's attorneys have plenty of time to prepare for a January trial, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge declared Friday, and he refused to let Duncan's former lead attorney walk away from the case. The judge rejected bids from the defense to delay for a year the trial of the man accused of one of North Idaho's most notorious crimes – a multiple murder, kidnapping and child-molesting case that left four victims dead in 2005.

The attorney who defended Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and child-killer Susan Smith will head Joseph Duncan's federal defense team. Judy Clarke, formerly federal defender for Eastern Washington and Idaho, is leading the team of attorneys representing the suspected serial killer.

Three computer forensic experts will testify at killer Joseph Duncan's federal trial about the pictures, videos and journal entries found on his computer equipment, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday. Duncan is facing the death penalty if convicted in his January 2008 trial for the murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene and other crimes against the boy and his sister, Shasta.

BOISE – Convicted murderer and sex offender Joseph Duncan failed to reply in time to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of the children Duncan is accused of killing or kidnapping, according to a finding entered into federal court Friday. Duncan was found in default of the lawsuit filed by Steven Groene. The finding, entered by a clerk in U.S. District Court here at Groene's request, allows Groene to ask Judge B. Lynn Winmill to rule in his favor in the civil suit without hearing from Duncan.

Federal prosecutors can't have a log of Joseph Duncan's prison visitors, but U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge is allowing prosecutors to see some of the convicted killer's mail. Defense attorneys filed a sealed motion for a protective order to keep prosecutors from obtaining the information, which they argued would reveal defense strategy in the federal death penalty case.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas wants to be remembered as a good boss and a "fair, ethical prosecutor who was a voice for crime victims and who held criminals accountable." He hopes his 18-year career as elected prosecutor won't be overshadowed by recent controversies, including the release of sexually charged e-mails he exchanged at work with former employee Marina Kalani.