STORY REVISED TO INCLUDED COMMENT FROM BENT’S ATTORNEY (5:40PM/ PST)
(Clayton, New Mexico) The State of New Mexico’s criminal trial against controversial church leader Wayne Bent (aka Michael Travesser) has been rescheduled for November 17. Union County Court Deputy Clerk Karen Vieites confirms the new date was set during a court hearing this morning.
The trial had previously been scheduled to begin on October 20.
According to a comment purportedly from Bent’s Attorney, (please see comments):
“The prosecution asked for a continuance of the trial date, indicating to the court that the District Attorney’s Office was not prepared to go to trial. The defense DID NOT concur in the state’s motion to continue and asked the judge to deny the state’s motion to continue. The court granted the motion and a new trial date was set less than 30 days from the October 20th trial date.”
Wayne Bent is represented by attorney Sarah Montoya.
Citing the Court Clerk, Beyond90Seconds.com initially reported that the defense had filed a motion to have the trial date changed. Later, a response aimed at correcting this information appeared in this article’s comments section.
Prior to publishing this story, Beyond90Seconds.com had also submitted a request for a copy of the motion resulting in the change in trial date. A copy of that motion has not yet been received.
Your information is erroneous. I am Wayne Bent’s attorney. The prosecution asked for a continuance of the trial date, indicating to the court that the District Attorney’s Office was not prepared to go to trial. The defense DID NOT concur in the state’s motion to continue and asked the judge to deny the state’s motion to continue. The court granted the motion and a new trial date was set less than 30 days from the October 20th trial date. I do not believe the court clerk should be commenting on this case to the media. Please correct the error. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Montoya, for your comment. The article has been updated.