New evidence revealed in Worcester bridge attack case may cause mistrial, lawyer says
New evidence has surfaced in the trial of Joshua Hubert — accused of throwing his best friend's 7-year-old off a Worcester bridge after raping her — that his lawyer claims supports Hubert's innocence and could lead to a mistrial.
The information comes eight years after the initial accusation against Hubert. His attorney, Kevin Larson, said it was provided to him on Tuesday afternoon during the trial's lunch break.
"I received cellphone tower mapping of my client's phone that is exculpatory," Larson said outside the courtroom at Worcester County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon, meaning it is favorable to the defendant.
"I need to look at it more carefully, figure out how it's going to be handled ... figure out what to do about the fact that it's just being given to me now, eight years after this event happened, considering that it's exculpatory and not inculpatory," he said.
Hubert, 43, faces several indictments in connection with the attempted murder and rape of a 7-year-old girl in Worcester in 2017, which are being combined into one case for the trial that began last week.
Prosecutors say Hubert — a childhood friend of the victim's father — kidnapped the girl from her grandparents' home after a party, then raped and strangled her in his car before throwing her from the Interstate 290 overpass into Lake Quinsigamond.
The girl survived and told police it was her "dad's friend Josh" who had thrown her from the bridge.
Hubert has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of the rape of a child, along with strangulation and kidnapping charges.
He has appeared alongside Larson each day of his trial, which began with jury selection on Thursday. The jury has heard testimony from the girl , her mother and father , her grandfather and from Hubert's ex-girlfriend as of Wednesday morning.
Larson said the new evidence — the cellphone tower mapping information — came from a 2022 law enforcement report that he had not previously seen.
The report was created by one of the government's witnesses, Mark Sanders, who is a Criminal Intelligence Analyst from the New England State Police Information Network (NESPIN).
Dated Jan. 20, 2022, Sanders' report was addressed to and appears to have been requested by Worcester Police Det. Cristin Chabot, according to a motion filing by Larson on Wednesday.
It includes "an animation" that depicts "the location and usage" of Hubert's cellphone on Aug. 27, 2017.
This animation, and the report, show that Hubert was not on or near the I-290 bridge at the time the girl was thrown in the water, according to the filing.
"Neither Mr. Sanders' report nor the animation were provided to Counsel for the Defendant as part of mandatory discovery in this case," Larson's filing read.
"Additionally, there are no references to Mr. Sanders' report in the police reports previously provided to counsel."
Though it appears the prosecutors currently handling the Hubert case — Emily Meyers and David McShera — were not aware of Sanders' report, "the prosecution team, specifically Detective Cristin Chatbot, has had this information since on or about January 20, 2022."
Both the prosecution and defense had already been working on a different "animation" that was created by Sanders as a trial exhibit, which included "certain surveillance video" and shows "a timeline of activity" for Hubert on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27, 2017.
However, on Tuesday, Sanders "expressed concerns about the accuracy of parts" of that animation, given his report on the cellphone mapping data. Larson now believes the prepared exhibit is "inaccurate and misleading," and that it will need to be "further edited or scrapped as an exhibit."
This will "likely have a significant impact on the presentation of this case," Larson's motion read.
Because of this discovery, the jury was adjourned for the day just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday. This will give Larson "time to properly digest and review" the newly disclosed evidence and to prepare for revised cross examinations.
It will also give the defense time to "consider the possibility of requesting a mistrial," the motion read.
The Worcester County District Attorney's office declined to comment on the active case Wednesday, "consistent with our rules of professional ethics."
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Read more:Worcester girl recounts playing dead to survive bridge attack as she faces suspect in court
In their opening statements on Monday, prosecutors acknowledged a lack of DNA evidence against Hubert, and the presence of sperm cell DNA from the girl's father found on her underwear after the attack. But they pointed to surveillance footage of Hubert cleaning his car the morning the girl was found, and stated the father would be able to explain his DNA presence.
Prosecutors also previously said there was surveillance footage of Hubert driving around Worcester the night of the attack, and that a witness saw a car parked on the I-290 bridge over Lake Quinsigamond in the early-morning hours of Aug. 27, 2017. The witness reported seeing a person throwing something off the bridge.
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