MADERA - Madera County District Attorney Michael R. Keitz announced that the jury trial of Dustin Gran, scheduled in April 2012 to begin on September 25, 2012, has been postponed by the Stanislaus County Superior Court.
However the truth is the delays have been caused by the Madera County District Attorney's office not being ready to try the case. Keitz's office has tried to force new evidence into the trial without discovery and has been dragging their feet through-out the pre-trial phase of the case. The DA's office has been admonished by the Stanislaus County courts for allowing previous delays.
BVN readers may remember that a new suspect was uncovered by defense attorney's last year after the suspect admitted to being in the house during the murder. This is the same person that met Madera Police at the crime scene when they first discovered the body. While the DA knew about this new suspect for over six months, he never turned the information over to the defense until it was brought up in open court. The DA has ignored this suspect and has refused to bring charges.
The DA has also refused to bring statutory rape charges against the victim's boyfriend who was 19 years old when he began a sexual relationship with the then 16 year-old co-suspect Britney Navara. Another girl who police say was involved in the planning of the murder was also not charged with any crime and has since moved away from the area..
Gran is charged with first degree murder in the 2008 death of Krista Pike. A gag-order has been in-place on the case ever since the district attorney's office released police records to the Madera Tribune for their article "The Anatomy of a Murder" which outlined the DA's claims against Gran and Navara. The defense has never been allowed to talk to the media about their strategies.
The venue for the trial was changed to Stanislaus County by the Madera Superior Court in December 2011. In a pre-trial hearing held on September 19, 2012, Judge Marie Silveira cancelled the September 25th trial date, and ordered the parties to return to court on October 30, 2012 for a trial re-setting.
The Pike family has been trying to raise money through donations via a Madera Rancho's Facebook page for the last few months. However there is no mention on the Facebook page about their recent civil settlement. The Pike's won a $10,000 settlement to a "wrongful death" lawsuit they brought against their daughter's boyfriend's family and the Gran family.
