Marin County- A long-running Novato criminal case - featuring an accused molester with a suspicious heart ailment, a trove of child porn and bestiality videos, and a poorly rigged bag of fake urine - took another twist Monday when the judge declared a mistrial and the defendant was thrown into jail.
Marc Louis Artieres, 50, surrendered to court deputies Monday morning after failing to come to court last week in the middle of his trial. Artieres, who was free on bail, claimed to have heart problems and went to Marin General Hospital for two days, but a clearly skeptical Judge Paul Haakenson issued an arrest warrant last week after personally interviewing Artieres' doctors over the phone.
Artieres' abrupt sabbatical forced Haakenson to declare a mistrial Monday because the trial was on track to exceed initial time estimates, and several jurors had long-planned vacations and other commitments. A new jury will be selected Aug. 29, said Deputy District Attorney Lori Frugoli.
The trial is nearly three years in the making. Artieres was arrested in December 2005 on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl at his residence on Highland Drive, and prosecutors charged him with rape, sexual battery by restraint, unlawful sexual intercourse, lewd acts upon a child and giving the girl marijuana.
Prosecutors also charged Artieres with possession of child pornography after police technicians analyzed his computer and found more than 150 porn, incest and bestiality files. Some of the pornographic evidence was played on a large courtroom television for the jury.
The case has been slowed in part by Artieres' other legal problems, including a stalking and battery case in Sonoma County and a separate drug and weapons case in Marin.
In addition, Artieres recently pleaded guilty to manufacturing evidence after an incident at the Marin County probation office, where he had gone for a court-ordered drug test. A probation officer found a bag of fake urine strapped to Artieres' leg - although it lacked a means of heating the liquid to body temperature, or a hose to provide the sample upon request.
Artieres is being held at the county jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. His defense attorney, Jon Rankin, denies that Artieres raped the girl and said there is evidence the computer porn files were updated while Artieres was in custody in another case - proving that someone else was using his computer.
"We still believe he'll be vindicated at trial," Rankin said.
