ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Trial for Crystal Smith is expected to begin in two weeks.
Smith, the mother of Aiden Fucci, is charged with tampering with evidence after investigators say she washed her son’s jeans that later tested positive for blood.
On Wednesday, Smith’s attorneys filed a “motion of limine,” asking the judge to eliminate testimony from the FDLE analyst.
In court, the analyst would testify about a DNA sample taken from the pants that investigators say Aiden Fucci wore the night of Tristyn Bailey’s murder.
News4JAX spoke with Randy Reep, an attorney not affiliated with this case about the defense’s decision.
“They’re making an argument that some of the testimony that they expect for the analyst to make is speculative. You’re going to hear them use words like maybe and possibly. Whereas Daubert, which is the standard for this, requires the scientific means basically to know something,” said Randy Reep.
According to investigators, Smith washed blood from her son’s jeans hours after he killed Bailey.
Home surveillance video showed Smith appearing to wash something in the sink in an upstairs bathroom near Fucci’s room the night of the murder.
Reep says even if the judge approves the defense’s motion, the state can still find grounds to prove their argument that Smith tampered with evidence.
“In fact, it could be argued that the lack of the available evidence was because she in fact tampered with it. So, it will be very interesting to see how the judge rules on that.”
Reep also says it is likely that the state has additional evidence stacked against Smith.
“So we haven’t tried the case yet, we haven’t seen it, but it certainly looks like they have a large amount of evidence to utilize, and this is just one part of it,” said Randy Reep.
Within the next two weeks Reep expects the defense to continue to file new motions.
He calls it “motion practice” and believes Smith’s attorneys will use this method to try to get more items eliminated ahead of the trial.
Jury selection is set for May 15.