Bell’s palsy downs US govt witness; won’t make it to trial

The U.S. government’s Texas-based DNA expert has suffered a speech problem due to Bell’s palsy and can’t make it to the Dec. 27 jury trial of Melvin David Diaz, a Guam resident who is accused of impregnating a minor girl on Rota.

Assistant U.S. attorney Clyde Lemons Jr. on Thursday asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to postpone Diaz’s trial for at least six weeks due to the unexpected medical condition of their DNA expert.

Lemons said that Dr. Wayne L. Hoffman is a material witness in the case.

Hoffman is manager and associate laboratory director of Orchid Cellmark, Inc. Dallas Laboratory, Farmers Branch, Texas. Orchid Cellmark Inc. conducts DNA testing in paternity and other types of relationship testing.

Lemons said that not putting off the trial will likely “result in a miscarriage of justice.”

He said that he had called Hoffman on Nov. 24 about a defense discovery request and noticed that the doctor’s speech was slurred. He said the doctor told him that he had been to the emergency room and was being treated for a virus that was causing his speech impediment.

Lemons said that Hoffman then advised him on Nov. 29 via email that he had been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. Specifically, Hoffman had developed partial paralysis of the nerves of the left side of his face, which affects his vision and ability to speak clearly.

Lemons quoted Hoffman as saying that the paralysis was reversible and that some improvements have already been noted.

Lemons said that Hoffman will testify as to why the DNA testing performed by his laboratory leads him to conclude that the infant born to the victim in this case is the child of Diaz.

“His conclusions from the DNA testing, in conjunction with other evidence the prosecution intends to produce at trial, tends to prove the defendant had sexual intercourse with the victim prior to her turning age 16, which is a critical element to the offenses charged in the indictment,” the prosecutor said.

The 49-year-old Diaz is charged with three counts of enticement of a minor and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

According to the indictment, between Aug. 1, 2010 and Sept. 30, 2010, Diaz traveled from Guam to the CNMI for the purpose of engaging in illicit sex with the minor.