Norton defense to seek delay in murder retrial

Maguire said in court early last month that a continuance might be required — an admission that caused prosecutor Al Giannini to threaten to seek sanctions against the defense — but that she hoped it wouldn’t be necessary after all.

Giannini said he will not object to Maguire’s motion today for a new trial date although he hopes it will be the last. However, he reiterated his frustration that the trial is not proceeding in a more timely fashion.

"The way the system has treated this case is really shameful. It’s four years old and passed through three sets of attorneys,” Giannini said. "Meanwhile, two children are suffering under the strain of waiting to testify against their father.”

Maguire did not return a call for comment on Monday’s request but has said her intent is not to harm the two older Norton children. Instead, she wants to prepare the best defense for their father.

Tamika Mack Norton was stabbed to death July 22, 2006 and found by family members worried when she did not attend a planned event. The Norton children — Quincy Jr., Dion and a baby girl — were missing as was the defendant. The children had been dropped at a friend’s home and the elder Norton remained at large for weeks before surrendering.

Dion and Quincy Norton Jr., told jurors they heard their mother scream and saw their father in the Daly City home the day she was murdered. Norton took the stand on his own behalf to say he is innocent and his sons were mistaken. Norton said he found his wife dead and fled with the children out of fear he’d be considered a suspect.

Jurors found Norton guilty May 15, 2008 of first-degree murder and the use of a knife, siding with the prosecution’s theory that Norton stabbed his wife multiple times after she filed for divorce and asked that he have limited contact with their three children.

In late May 2009, Judge Craig Parsons found that Norton’s hired attorney Pat Fox did not provide adequate counsel. Fox’s refusal to continue the murder trial and re-test a potential murder weapon for DNA left Norton without a fair trial, according to the court.

That knife, which tested positive for Johnson’s DNA profile and Mack Norton’s blood, will be a key component in the second trial, according to Maguire.

Norton’s girlfriend, Anitra Johnson, was a key prosecution witness in the first trial, and Maguire plans to point the finger at her.

If Norton is convicted again of the same charges, he faces 26 years to life in prison.

Norton remains in custody on no-bail status.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.