Montana District Judge Stewart Stadler granted a continuance request to continue a sex crimes’ trial in part because the defense attorney had not yet paid for his expert witnesses.
As reported in the The Daily Interlake, former Children’s House Montessori administrator David Farr is accused of sex crimes against five boys. Farr’s attorney Jack Quatman said he hired Philip Esplin as a child sexual abuse expert witness who is “uniquely qualified to testify in cases in which Wendy Dutton testifies for the prosecution.” Dutton will be a prosecution witness.
The court surprisingly allowed the case to be continued believing that Esplin’s schedule, and the volume of material he must review, meant he could not be prepared without a continuance. Quatman said he could find no other expert witness.
Quatman also said he hired Stephen Guertin, a forensic pediatric expert witness from Minnesota, after the evidentiary hearings. He also is not available for trial.