Jan. 15—FAIRMONT — Marion County Circuit Court Judge Matt Delligatti stepped into a legal storm Tuesday afternoon.
The longstanding Henry Silver murder case continued working through the justice system, with Delligatti presiding over a hearing for one of the six Pagan’s Motorcycle Club members, Ryan Lane. The state accuses Lane of having a role in Silver’s death, and wants to secure a murder conviction against Lane.
However, with the to-do list for the hearing piling up as a result of a pile of motions still to be addressed, trial scheduling and delays caused by last week’s snowstorm, Delligatti’s task quickly became complicated. Moreover, an upcoming trial for another man allegedly connected to the murder scheduled for next week overshadowed the proceedings.
The hearing, ostensibly, was to determine if Lane’s trial for Jan. 22 should be postponed to allow his defense time to complete discovery. The state accuses the men of the September 2022 murder of Silver. Their connection to the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club has been a key part of the state’s case. Lane is president of the chapter. So far the state has been able to secure three guilty convictions for the murder and one acquittal. While the jury acquitted Dane Hull of murder, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit a felony and use or presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
However, Austin Mullins’ trial next week overshadowed Lane’s Tuesday hearing for more than half an hour. Key to Mullins’ trial are a group of letters Mullins sent to Lane, in which Mullins took responsibility for Silver’s death. However, prosecutors claim the letters have not been authenticated. Lane’s attorney, Elgine McArdle, and Marion County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sean Murphy crossed swords over over this point. Murphy has not had access to the letters in order to authenticate them. An issue of chain of custody is at play. McArdle has kept the letters in her possession. However, Murphy argued before Delligatti that he needs access to the letters before Mullins’ trial next week.
However, it also meant the Mullins matter was taking up time in a hearing dedicated to Lane.
“It’s five till two,” McArdle said. “The hearing started at 1:30 p.m. We’ve done nothing on Ryan Lane.”
McArdle said she had no desire to prove the state’s case against Mullins. She told Delligatti she wants an outside entity — such as the FBI — to authenticate the letters. Meanwhile, Murphy wants to control the process through his office. McArdle told Murphy that the state was welcome to look through the letters but not have them, pointing to a ruling on the matter that had already been issued. Murphy accused Lane’s attorneys of obstructing justice, an accusation that brought a derisive chortle from McArdle’s colleague, attorney Stanton Levinson.
Delligatti stopped the attorneys from continuing to fight.
“I’m not interested in personal attacks, either way,” he said. “Let’s cool the temperature.”
At one point, Murphy tried to trap Delligatti himself into giving him possession of the letters, arguing that chain of custody issues would simply be used against Murphy at a different trial. However, Delligatti didn’t bite, telling Murphy they’d settle the matter at a different hearing.
Next, McArdle and Levinson sought to obtain bail for their client. Levinson and Murphy balked, saying at no point in his 30-year career practicing law had a murder suspect ever been granted bail.
However, McArdle countered that she too had 30 years of practice and although murder suspects had never been granted bail, conspiracy suspects had. Lane also faces a conspiracy charge. Further, she forcefully suggested Lane was wholly innocent, attacking testimony from one of the witnesses that had been instrumental in securing convictions for the prosecution in the previous related trials. She accused the prosecution of having no real evidence implicating their client and the evidence they did have actually exonerates him.
At the start of the hearing, Delligatti also disclosed that he knew Lane from having grown up playing sports against him. However, infrequent contact in adulthood led Delligatti to believe no conflict of interest existed. He offered both sides a chance to object to Delligatti presiding over the trial but neither side found any fault with Delligatti’s continued presence.
Delligatti granted the continuance and took the matter of bail under advisement. Lane had substantial support from the gallery some around 25 well wishers who were present. One of them called after Delligatti as he left the courtroom, but McArdle quickly shut down the outburst. Once the door shut behind Delligatti, members of the gallery rebuked Murphy, which earned a stern reprimand from the bailiff. He warned it was his discretion who to allow back into the courtroom in the future, before ushering everyone out.
Mullins trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com