Backpage trial pushed back after Larkin death by suicide

A federal judge has agreed to push back three weeks the criminal trial of former executives and employees of the Backpage.com website, which prosecutors said was used to facilitate prostitution, after one of the defendants, James Larkin, died by suicide earlier this week at age 74.

U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa began a hearing to discuss developments in the case on Friday afternoon in closed court. That, she said, was to address sensitive material, filed under seal in the defense's motion to continue the trial after Larkin's death.

Once the public was allowed into the special proceedings courtroom at the Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse in downtown Phoenix, the state moved to dismiss the indictment against Larkin and the judge ordered it.

Then the judge asked both parties to discuss the potential impacts of pushing the trial start date back.

The defense team had requested to continue the trial for two months, while the government it they would be willing to consider a three-week delay.

While the defense said they were grateful for the opportunity to come to a consensus, the attorneys told Judge Humetewa that two weeks would not be enough to prepare for the trial. With Larkin no longer involved in the case, his attorney's allotment of the duties for the trial would have to be divided up among the remaining lawyers. There are also thousands of exhibits to be redistributed, defense attorneys said.

Defense attorney Joy Bertrand said a two-week extension "does not allow efficient time to effectively defend this matter."

The government, and Judge Humetewa, were reluctant to push the start date back too far, out of fear of the trial potentially stretching into the holidays and limiting juror availability.

On top of that concern, the judge said she was expecting to lose a large portion of the jury pool because of potential exposure to the news of Larkin's death. "There's a great likelihood that we will lose a tremendous amount of them," Judge Humetewa said.

The Judge said she would be modifying and streamlining the jury questionnaire, asking supplemental questions of jurors, and rewriting jury instructions in light of the death and the removal of Larkin from the case.

Striking a compromise, Judge Humetewa set new trial dates for Aug. 29 through Nov. 9.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Backpage trial pushed back after Larkin death by suicide