Three legal motions met different fates Friday in the case of a Duluth physician accused of sexually assaulting a patient while touring her parents' boat at Barker's Island Marina.
Dr. Javier Enrique De La Garza, 52, a gastroenterologist with St. Luke's hospital, faces one charge of third-degree sexual assault stemming from the 2006 incident. His trial, which was moved to Menomonie, Wis., due to extensive media coverage of the case, begins Feb. 2.
Douglas County Judge Michael Lucci granted a motion prohibiting trial witnesses from referring to testimony from five other women who alleged that De La Garza touched them inappropriately. Lucci earlier ruled that the women's testimony would not be allowed at trial. Defense lawyer Rick Gondik filed the motion to stress the importance of keeping that information from the jury.
"If it were to come out in front of a jury, it could be a basis for a mistrial," Gondik said. "We don't want to do it twice."
Lucci denied a motion from Gondik requesting that the reams of information contained in the case files be numbered to make reports and statements easier for the lawyers to find.
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The judge took no action on a motion by Assistant District Attorney Jim Boughner to admit into evidence statements that De La Garza made to Duluth police investigators in 2007. Gondik said he would have no problem with the testimony so long as Boughner planned to call the investigators to the stand as witnesses.
"I can't cross-examine a CD or cassette tape," Gondik said.
Boughner asked to amend his witness list to include both Duluth investigators. Lucci said he would give the lawyers time to resolve the issue but set a final pretrial hearing for Jan. 23.
Although De La Garza still has his medical license, he signed a voluntary agreement to cease practicing medicine while the case is pending, according to Gondik.
"He's a patient man," Gondik said after the hearing. "But his whole life has been held in limbo."
Meanwhile, potential Dunn County jurors have received summonses and questionnaires, Lucci said. While the jury will be from Dunn County, the court personnel, including the judge, will travel from Douglas County for the trial.
