Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.
Next week's trial of a Las Vegas man accused of stalking and killing his estranged wife has been postponed so a judge can pore over the juvenile records of the victim's adult sons.
Defense attorney William Terry believes he has a right to know what, if anything, is in the sealed juvenile records of Marina Cannon's sons.
The men are expected to testify at the trial of Vitaly Zakouto, 53. At least one of them has identified Zakouto as the man seen on a video surveillance tape entering Cannon's home on the morning she died.
District Judge Jeffrey Sobel is looking over the records and will decide if Terry and Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane should be allowed to see them.
Eventually, Sobel could be asked to decide if Terry can use the records to impeach one or both of the sons on the stand.
Zakouto's new trial date is Feb. 3.
Cannon, 49, had a restraining order against Zakouto, and was reportedly so frightened of him that she installed surveillance equipment in the home she shared with her father, prosecutors said.
Kane believes the videotape, which was shot between 2:40 and 3:44 a.m. Dec. 23, 2000, is an important piece of evidence against Zakouto. Terry believes it proves nothing.
It shows a man climbing over a wall, pulling a screen off a window and crawling into Cannon's home. He is later seen coming out of the residence through a sliding glass door, looking at his hand and going back into the residence.
Cannon's son, Jason Jaeger, testified at Zakouto's preliminary hearing in February 2001 that he believes the man on the tape is Zakouto because of the man's posture, body shape and gait. He also said he recognized the way Zakouto puts his hands in his pockets.
Terry, however, says the tape is not a continuously moving tape and doesn't show the suspect walking. Nor does it show him putting his hands in his pockets or the suspect thrusting his abdomen the way Zakouto reportedly does.
Moreover, Terry noted that while a mask made of panty hose was later found in Zakouto's car, the person in the videotape was not wearing such an item. The person on the videotape wasn't wearing gloves either, yet Zakouto's prints weren't found in the house.
Terry unsuccessfully argued that the tape should be thrown out as evidence. Had it been thrown out, he said, the state wouldn't have enough evidence to charge Zakouto with murder.
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