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Murder Defendant Might Get Mistrial

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By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 6, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - The murder trial of Phillup Alan Partin stands on the precipice of mistrial after his attorneys learned for the first time Friday that DNA tests were conducted on a controversial blood stain.

Had he known about the tests and their inconclusive results, lawyer William Bennett said, he would have had the blood tested using a different kind of DNA analysis. Those results could have altered the defense team's presentation to the jury this week and its theory of who killed 16-year-old Joshan Ashbrook on July 31, 2002.

Circuit Judge William Webb seemed on his way to declaring a mistrial Friday but held off when Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis suggested shipping the evidence swabs to a lab in Raleigh, N.C., for testing Monday morning.

Webb agreed to delay the trial until Tuesday afternoon but did say he considered the oversight prejudicial to Partin, even though it was inadvertent. Halkitis didn't know until Friday, either, that the tests had been done.

Bennett is likely to renew his motion for a mistrial when court reconvenes, unless the new results are also inconclusive. The test results will be pivotal if Bennett and co-counsel Bjorn Brunvand hope to inject reasonable doubt into the state's case against Partin.

'If Joshan Ashbrook's blood is on that road, that's my case,' Bennett told Webb in arguing for a mistrial Friday.

The state is seeking the death penalty for Partin if he's convicted as charged.

Bennett has argued to jurors that the evidence points to Partin's friend, Fred Kaufman, as Ashbrook's killer. The girl's half-naked body was found in woods beside Shady Hills Road on Aug. 1, 2002. Her throat had been gashed and her neck dislocated.

The blood stain in question was found on the asphalt near a set of tire tracks running parallel to the road. It wasn't completely clear Friday how the stain, if it turns out to be Ashbrook's blood, fits into the defense theory. If a mistrial is averted, Bennett is scheduled to put on the defense case next week.

Ashbrook's mother, Tara Ramsdell, left the courthouse a little confused.

'I'm bewildered,' she said as she waited for the elevator. 'I have no understanding of why the defense is trying this; I'm just trying to be patient.'

Halkitis completed the state's case Friday. According to testimony this week:

Partin and his 7-year-old daughter, Patrisha, had moved in to Kaufman's Port Richey home in late July 2002. Partin and Kaufman met in prison and had been friends for years.

On the morning of July 31, Partin picked up Ashbrook as she walked along a local road. Partin, Patrisha and Ashbrook spent that day together, going to the Port Richey Wal-Mart, then to the coast to fish and swim.

Later, they returned to Kaufman's house, where they watched television and played video games.

Ashbrook's body was discovered the next morning, not far from a set of tire tracks. Tire experts testified that the tracks could have been made by tires known to be on Partin's Ford F-150 at the time.

DNA analysts testified that a hair found in a cut on Ashbrook's left hand matched Partin's DNA profile.

Partin became a suspect early in the investigation, but he eluded law enforcement and refused repeated requests for face-to-face interviews.

In recorded telephone conversations played for jurors, Partin makes what seem to be incriminating statements. In one call to Kaufman, recorded in late October 2003, Partin says he's a 'dead man.' When Kaufman brings up Ashbrook's death, Partin declines to discuss it, saying, 'Dude, man, I can't talk to you.'

Three days later, Partin was arrested in Fayetteville, N.C.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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