Vacaville police ordered to disclose records in Raymond Weber murder case
(File photo by Matthew Keys/Solano NewsNet)
A Solano County judge has ordered the Vacaville Police Department to turn over unredacted police reports and other records in the case of a man who is charged with murdering two women, the aftermath of which was captured in part on social media.
Police initially withheld the records from defense attorneys representing Raymond Weber out of concerns for the safety of two witnesses who were interviewed by police as part of their investigation, according to court records reviewed by Solano NewsNet.
Raymond was arrested by Vacaville police in January after he allegedly murdered his girlfriend and a teenager inside an apartment. Prior to the arrest, he was shown on a social media video posing next to the bodies of the two women while brandishing a firearm and threatening responding police.
Weber has not been arraigned on the charges since his arrest; criminal proceedings have been suspended pending the outcome of a doctor’s evaluation over whether the suspect is competent enough to assist in his own defense.
The report, commissioned by the court and produced by Dr. Kathleen O’Meara, was provided to defense counsel last month, Solano NewsNet has learned. It has not been released publicly. A judge is scheduled to evaluate its contents next month.
In the meantime, Weber’s defense attorneys have been busy soliciting discovery evidence from the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, various local law enforcement agencies and other groups.
According to his defense attorneys, the Vacaville Police Department has already turned over more than 400 pages of police reports and other investigatory records as part of the process.
Some of those records contain redactions, and in a motion before the court last month, Weber’s defense attorneys complained that the agency never sought court approval before withholding the information and asserted their constitutional right to receive it.
The withheld information purportedly contains the identity of two witnesses who gave lengthy statements to a Vacaville police detective in which they provided anecdotal evidence of prior violent acts allegedly committed by Weber.
At a non-public court hearing last month, Vacaville Police Department Detective Erik Watts testified that a release of unredacted records to Weber’s defense counsel could reasonably endanger their two witnesses.
But Weber’s defense attorneys rebutted that argument, noting Vacaville police had already disclosed the identities of other witnesses when they provided other records that were not redacted. Some of those witnesses whose names were present also described purported acts of violence committed by Weber, his attorneys argued.
Even still, Weber’s attorneys said they had a constitutional right to the unredacted information as part of their preparation for his defense.
On May 5, Judge Jeffrey Kaufmann agreed with Weber’s defense attorneys and ordered the police department to turn over unredacted records. He also ordered the Fresno Police Department to provide an explanation as to why they had not complied with a subpoena for similar records held by that agency that were apparently related to prior acts involving Weber.
Weber’s next court appearance is scheduled for mid-June.
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