Man convicted of murder asks for new trial
Feb. 26—Patrick Nuxoll, the Lewiston man serving life in prison for the gruesome first-degree murder of David Cramer in 2015, is trying to get a new trial.
In motions filed with 2nd District Court in Lewiston, defense attorney Richard Cuddihy argued that Nuxoll's constitutional rights were violated when a witness for the prosecution didn't disclose that he was under investigation for tax fraud. In a hearing before Judge Jeff Brudie last week, Cuddihy said he could have easily shot down the testimony of former Nez Perce County Sheriff's Office Deputy John Mainini Jr. if he had known of the Idaho State Tax Commission probe.
"Clearly, that investigation undermines the credibility of Deputy Mainini," Cuddihy said, characterizing Mainini's testimony as central to the prosecution's case against Nuxoll, 59.
Mainini testified at Nuxoll's preliminary hearing and trial about his interactions with Nuxoll at the jail shortly after his arrest on the murder charge. He said Nuxoll made statements about never going home again for what he'd done. Cuddihy said the prosecution presented those statements as a powerful "confession" that prejudiced the jury against Nuxoll.
But in her response, Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor April Smith said Mainini's testimony was hardly evidence of a confession, noting that Nuxoll made similar vague statements to Lewiston police. And Mainini served a relatively small role in the prosecution's case, she said, arguing that the jury would still have convicted Nuxoll without his testimony.
Mainini pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion last June, and 2nd District Judge John Judge granted him a withheld judgement and sentenced him to three years probation. Charges of perjury, offering a false instrument for record and computer crime were dropped as part of a plea deal.
Smith also argued that Mainini hadn't even been charged with a crime at the time of Nuxoll's trial, and the tax commission investigation was merely in progress. And the Nez Perce County Prosecutor's Office couldn't have disclosed that investigation to the defense because it didn't even know it existed.
Cuddihy acknowledged that the prosecution was unaware of the investigation into Mainini. But he said that as an officer of the law and a part of the system that was prosecuting Nuxoll, Mainini had a duty to disclose the investigation into his taxes, even though he had yet to be charged or convicted when he offered his testimony.
If he had known of the investigation, Cuddihy said he could have learned about Mainini's allegedly dishonest responses to Idaho State Tax Commission investigators. Then he could have used that information to cast doubt on Mainini's testimony in the Nuxoll case. But since none of that happened, Cuddihy said Nuxoll's constitutional right to put on a full defense was violated.
According to the tax commission investigation and charges, Mainini overstated his state income tax withholdings for several years starting in 2012, allowing him to collect refunds to which he was not entitled.
A Latah County jury convicted Nuxoll of first-degree murder in October 2018 for stabbing and beating to death Cramer, who had more than 200 distinct injuries when he was discovered dead in a chair in Nuxoll's Lewiston Orchards home. The case was tried in Moscow after an unbiased jury could not be found in Lewiston.
Prosecutors charged Nuxoll in May 2015 following his call to 911 to report that Cramer had slit his own throat. Nuxoll maintained his innocence, saying he was "wrongly convicted," since he was asleep and couldn't have killed Cramer.
Nuxoll appealed his guilty verdict in 2019, but that action is on hold pending the outcome of the motion for a new trial. He attended the hearing via video link from the Idaho State Correctional Center in Boise, where he is serving his life term.
Brudie took the matter under advisement and will issue a written ruling at a later date.
Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 310-1901, ext. 2266.
