Privacy, due process front and center at Kost hearing - TriValley Central
On Monday, July 13, judge Kevin White extended the deadline for prosecutors with the Pinal County Attorney’s Office to hand over Facebook records of 13 teens who say Kost either raped or sexually molested them at various times over a period of... The state has 20 more days to round up the records at the request of Kost’s defense team, led by Michael Alarid III, who revealed in March that three of the alleged victims and three other teens talked about teaching Kost “a lesson” in a Facebook... Alarid calls that digital conversation “exculpatory evidence,” or admissible to use in court as a way to defend Kost from what Alarid says is a set-up by his former classmates. One problem with requesting literally thousands of social media records is the sheer time it takes to sort through them all, said lead prosecutor Shawn Jensvold. Kost wore shackles and a dark green jumpsuit during the hearing, which was attended by members of his family, including his parents Angelique and James Kost. Angelique Kost wiped away tears at times, while lawyers for the two sides argued over a filter process for social media records. “My main issue is that the state is not in a position to determine what’s relevant and what’s not relevant,” Alarid said. White called the issue “complex” and suggested appointing a special “discovery special master” judge to help negotiate which records can be used. Source: www.trivalleycentral.com
