The misdemeanor trial of a San Juan Bautista city councilman set
to begin Monday was postponed as his attorney has a conflicted
schedule and may seek a change of venue because of media
scrutiny.
The misdemeanor trial of a San Juan Bautista city councilman set to begin Monday was postponed as his attorney has a conflicted schedule and may seek a change of venue because of media scrutiny.
George Dias, 46, was charged in connection with an April incident involving several San Benito County sheriff’s deputies at a trailer fire on Mission Vineyard Road in San Juan Bautista. Dias is now scheduled to be tried in December on a misdemeanor charge of resisting a peace officer causing serious injury.
Dias’ attorney, Larry Biegel, requested the trial be delayed because of his own schedule conflicts and, as he wrote in a court document filed Oct. 22, “I have a duty to investigate the possibility of filing a motion for a change of venue.”
In his request, Biegel claims the Sept. 29 Free Lance article “Dias Arrested After Fracas as Chief in 1987” and its online companion article “From the Archives: Top San Juan Officials Admit Street Brawl” may necessitate moving his client’s trial out of San Benito County.
Biegel states in the documents that “it is probable that these two inflammatory articles have poisoned any potential jury against my client.”
Dias will be back in court Dec. 4, when attorneys and a judge will determine whether to proceed to trial. The trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10.
