RELEASE CONDITIONS REVOKED, SEXUAL EXPLOITATION DEFENDANT HELD FOR TRIAL THIS MONTH
Hidden, disguised cameras in bathroom used by girls
Non-jury trial set for September 27
a question of corpus delicti
BISBEE - Last Tuesday, Robert Daniel Chandler went to a hospital instead of showing up for his trial for 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The judge, court clerk, bailiff, court reporter, prosecutor, case detective, two defense attorneys, multiple witnesses and a news reporter awaited the 8:30am start of the proceedings.
As a result of his decision to not appear in court, judge John F. Kelliher ruled yesterday that Chandler will now stay in jail until trial is held later this month.
That morning of September 6, lead defense counsel Richard Lougee advised Kelliher that Chandler, an U.S. Army Veteran who served in Iraq, called at 8:00am to say he was seriously ill and was heading to a Veterans Affairs hospital instead of to the courthouse. As a result of Chandler’s failure to appear, Kelliher ruled that the planned two day non-jury trial could not move forward without the defendant present.
In response, Deputy County Attorney Lori Zucco told the court, "the state is furious . . and requests a warrant for Chandler's arrest and a $1 million bond."
Instead, Kelliher granted the defense 48 hours to document Chandler’s medical emergency. The judge later signed a judicial subpoena giving the VA until September 16 to release Chandler’s medical file to Zucco or Sierra Vista police detective Thomas Ransford.
On Friday, Zucco filed a petition to revoke Chandler’s conditions of release, noting the doctor’s report provided by the defense shows Chandler “did not have a valid medical excuse” and “no true medical emergency” to justify his failure to appear in court last week.
At the start of Monday’s review hearing Zucco called the situation “ridiculous” and challenged the veracity of Chandler’s medical claims. "He was seen over the weekend at Oktoberfest and went to the gym last night,” she told Kelliher.
Chandler, of Sierra Vista, was in the Bisbee courtroom for this hearing while defense attorney Lougee participated telephonically from Tucson. Lougee, who had just received a copy of the petition, expected to have 15 days to respond to Zucco’s request for change to the conditions of release. But during the hearing Zucco withdrew her motion, a maneuver which allowed Kelliher the discretion to immediately rule on the matter of Chandler's failure to appear.
Kelliher revoked Chandler’s conditions of release, had him immediately taken into custody, and handcuffed in the courtroom. The judge then rescheduled the trial for September 27.
If found guilty, Chandler faces up to 12.5 years on each count based on Zucco’s allegations of aggravating factors of emotional harm to the victims, the number of occasions, and abuse of a position of trust.
HIDDEN CAMERAS IN BATHROOM USED BY TEEN GIRLS
The case against Chandler began when a teenage girl discovered a hidden camera in a bathroom she and another girl routinely used. Another camera, disguised as a clothes hook, was also found in the bathroom.
According to a search warrant affidavit by detective Ransford, one of the girls reported the matter to a school administrator who notified the police on October 21, 2015. After speaking with the girls, Ransford interviewed Chandler, who was one of three adults with access to that bathroom.
Court documents show Chandler admitted to Ransford that he recorded the girls in the bathroom, estimating he had done so “15 to 20” times. He was arrested the same day. On October 29 the Cochise County grand jury indicted Chandler on 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, all class 2 felonies.
Bail was originally set at $200,000 but in December deputy public defender Kevin Oursland successfully argued for a reduction to $75,000. Shortly after, Chandler arranged for bail and was released from custody pending trial.
Court records show that Arizona Dept. of Children Services has “worked several cases relating to Robert Chandler” and that he was previously arrested by the Holbrook Police Dept. in Navajo County on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. That charge was dismissed.
VIDEO FILES FOUND OF THOSE GIRLS, AND MORE
A secure digital memory card retrieved from one of the cameras discovered by the girls was found to be damaged, making it impossible for investigators to access its files. But during his
interview with Ransford, Chandler stated he “had several micro sd cards” on which the recordings were made. However, no memory cards were recovered by police despite two separate searches.
During the first search, police seized a computer Chandler had access to. Ransford later performed a detailed review of its harddrive files and discovered a backup program associated with Chandler’s cell phone.
That led to the recovery of three video files showing the victims undressed in the bathroom. The computer also contained records of other explicit files involving different girls.
With that new evidence in hand, the county grand jury issued a superseding indictment on August 4 that reflects 3 of the 20 counts are based on the recovered video files. The other 17 counts represent the additional recordings Chandler estimated he made.
Prosecutor Zucco believes the nature of the files found on the computer shows Chandler’s recordings of the girls “were not a mistake or accident.”
NEW ATTORNEYS SHORTLY BEFORE TRIAL; THE corpus delicti ARGUMENT
Chandler has requested a non-jury trial, meaning judge Kelliher alone will make the decision of guilty or not guilty as charged. Last month Oursland was replaced as defense counsel by Lougee and Ralph Ellinwood, Tucson-based criminal defense lawyers with experience handling sex crime cases. They recently filed documents putting the prosecution on notice that during trial they will challenge two key aspects of the case.
In one memorandum, the defense noted they will push for dismissal of counts 4 through 20 based on the legal principle of corpus delicti - in that the prosecution lacks corroborating evidence that Chandler recorded the girls more than three times. The memo further notes that charges should not be brought solely on a defendant’s “guess as to the number of crimes he may have committed.”
The lawyers point out Chandler was “clearly uncertain” when detective Ransford asked for an estimate and was “being pressed to come up with a number of videos” during the interview, adding “it is a good thing that Defendant did not guess 30 or 50” recordings".
In response, Zucco contends there is sufficient evidence through witness testimony and other aspects of Chandler’s interview to support the charges. However, she would consider reducing the number of counts from 20 to 15, which reflects the lesser number of incidents estimated by Chandler.
The defense is also challenging the applicability of the state law under which Chandler is charged. They argue that ARS 13-3553 (sexual exploitation of a minor) requires “a minor engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct,” not simply a minor who is nude.
Instead, the attorneys say Chandler should have been charged under ARS 13-2019 (surreptitious photography or videotaping). Zucco asserts that the exploitation charge is appropriate, noting that when the recordings are considered with the other evidence, anyone looking at the facts “can surely conclude that the videos were made for the sexual stimulation of the viewer, Mr. Chandler, and they therefore meet the definition of ‘exploitive exhibition'".
Also, likely to come up at trial are questions of what happened to the memory cards Chandler claimed to have used for the “15 to 20” recordings, and whether someone aided in hiding or destroying evidence of crimes against children.
SECOND SEARCH WARRANT LEADS TO DRUG CHARGES
The first search warrant in the exploitation case, for computer and recording devices, was executed last October when Chandler was arrested. A second search warrant - covering Chandler’s residence and two storage lockers at the Sierra Vista SafeT storage next to the UPS facility - was executed February 10 in hopes of finding the memory cards.
Although the February search failed to turn up the additional evidence, it did lead to a new criminal case against Chandler after Somatropin (human growth hormone) and syringes were discovered among his personal property at his home. Chandler was indicted on charges of drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia; he is represented in that case by Sierra Vista attorney Peter Kelly and is scheduled for a review hearing in that matter on October 3.
Because of the drug arrest, Zucco requested - and judge Kelliher approved - an increase in Chandler’s bond for the sexual exploitation case from $75,000 to $250,000. That surety amount was posted by Azteca Bail Bonds on March 3.
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Contact reporter Terri Jo Neff at 520-508-3660 and cjw_media@yahoo.com
Reporter David M Morgan contributed significantly to this report
Editor's Note: A bond of $20,000 had been required in the second case. Both bonds will be cancelled and returned as a result of Chandler's being taken into custody on September 12.
