Riley Choate trial delayed until October
By Ruth Ann Krause Post-Tribune correspondent August 1, 2012 2:18PM
Riley Choate
Updated: August 1, 2012 8:20PM
The jury trial for a former Gary man charged with murder and other offenses in the death of his 12-year-old son has been postponed.
Lake Superior Court Judge Diane Ross Boswell granted a request by defense attorney Randy Godshalk to delay Riley Choate’s trial, previously set to begin Aug. 13, to Oct. 9.
Godshalk, who has tried to withdraw his representation of Choate three times, said he paid $1,300 for transcripts of his client’s petition to let bail hearing, but hasn’t received the complete record.
With the start of the trial less than two weeks away, Godshalk said he couldn’t adequately prepare.
Deputy prosecutor Michael Woods said he has received the complete transcript, which he described as “not so voluminous that Mr. Godshalk can’t be prepared for the trial on the 13th.”
Choate, 40, of Hammond, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, battery, neglect of a dependent, confinement, obstruction of justice, removal of a body from a death scene, and other counts in his son Christian’s death, which occurred between April 2008 and April 2009. In May 2011, the boy’s body was unearthed from under a storage shed in the Colfax Mobile Home Park in the Black Oak section of Gary, where the family lived.
Choate’s ex-wife, Kimberly Leona Kubina, 47, pleaded guilty in May to neglect of a dependent and faces from 25 to 35 years in prison in exchange for her cooperation in testifying against Choate.
Boswell has ruled that taxpayer money be used for Choate’s defense, except for attorney fees.
