Convicted kidnapper and former 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days star Geoffrey Paschel was scheduled for another day in court today. His motion for a new trial was to be heard by the same Knox County judge that called Geoffrey “sick” and “sadistic” during sentencing.
Unfortunately for Geoffrey, the motion was continued. Geoffrey’s girlfriend, Varya Malina, shared a series of Instagram videos earlier today explaining that the chances of the motion being granted were very slim. However, it was a necessary step in order for Geoffrey to be able to file an actual appeal.
“As soon as I posted that previously video I got some news from the lawyer,” Varya said in a later clip. “The motion for the new trial was delayed for a variety of reasons, which nobody had time to explain us [sic], and I doubt that cared.”
“It was delayed for a date,” Varya continued. “Nobody knows which date. It’s all such a stupid circus.”
I contacted the court clerk’s office, but the person I spoke with could not confirm the continuance because their system had not been updated yet. I will keep checking and will update this post when I have confirmation.
UPDATE – A court clerk rep confirmed that the motion for a new trial was continued until May 26.
Geoffrey Paschel’s motion for a new trial details
Geoffrey’s attorney, Gregory Isaacs, spoke with Court TV about the motion for a new trial soon after Geoffrey was sentenced. He talked about the motion for a new trial, and summarized the main arguments.
There were a number of issues that came out during the trial. For example, one thing that was very significant — after the alleged victim testified, after a lengthy break, she, unsolicited, testified about prior acts of abuse and conduct. Which, Tennessee law is very clear and unequivocal — Mr. Paschel should have been given a pre-trial notice of that under our prior bad act procedural rule 404b.
That was a defining moment of the trial. We asked fora jury out hearing and asked for a mistrial, which was, after much reflection, the court denied. So that’s something that we are very eager to present to the court of appeals.
Mr. Isaacs adds that the defense thinks some of the graphic images of Kristen Wilson’s injuries were not admissible. “We felt the court erred in allowing a number of photographs of the victim’s injuries into evidence that had been taken at different points in time.”
Another issue brought up in the motion was the testimony of one of the arresting officers. He suggested in his testimony, just as he did in the initial police report, that Geoffrey’s injuries were consistent with self-inflicted wounds.
The surprise testimony during Geoffrey’s sentencing from one of his ex wives, Allison Moon, was also an issue that the defense raised in the motion. During her testimony, Allison shared instances of Geoffrey’s abuse that she suffered.
“We have also set forth in our motion for a new trial that we don’t feel the evidence was sufficient to convict Geoffrey of aggravated kidnapping under the requirements of Tennessee law,” Mr. Isaacs adds.
We will continue to monitor Geoffrey’s case and we will be sure to update when we know more about the new date for his motion. If you’d like to catch up on our extensive (and largely exclusive) coverage of Geoffrey’s most recent conviction, as well as prior crimes and allegations of abuse, just check out of Geoffrey Paschel category.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
