photo by: Mackenzie Clark

In this photo from Oct. 1, 2019, Rontarus Washington Jr. tells the judge he has chosen not to testify during his trial in Douglas County District Court.

A new trial date in a Lawrence murder case that has been pending more than five years is still up in the air after a hearing Monday, and it’s still unclear when additional forensic testing can be completed.

Rontarus Washington Jr., 23, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 7, 2014, death of his 19-year-old neighbor, Justina Altamirano Mosso. The case first went to a four-week trial in September 2019, but the jury hung after three days of deliberation.

Monday had previously been the anticipated start date for a retrial, but Washington’s defense attorneys, Adam Hall and Angela Keck, earlier this month requested further testing of scrapings from under the victim’s fingernails in hopes of finding more conclusive DNA evidence. The trial has been delayed numerous other times as new evidence has been sought or has become available.

At a hearing Monday, Hall argued against parts of an order that Chief Assistant District Attorney CJ Rieg had prepared for the judge to sign to get that testing done.

The defense had requested testing of evidence that the KBI lab report said contained some fingernail scrapings, additional fingernail clippings, some hairs, red-brown staining, nail clippers and plastic scrapers, Hall said. Separate items in evidence contained clippings of Altamirano Mosso’s fingernails that the coroner had taken from the scene where she was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death, at Cedarwood Apartments at 1727 W. 24th St.

photo by: Contributed photos

Photos of Justina Altamirano Mosso, 19, provided by the Lawrence Police Department.

An issue at trial was that it was unclear where on one of the fingernail clippings some partial DNA had been found. Rieg said Monday that she had asked, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation forensic lab would be unable to swab the undersides of the fingernail clippings to try to pick up just that DNA — which could potentially be that of Altamirano Mosso’s attacker, if she had scratched in self-defense — because the clippings could have cross-contaminated each other through contact in the same container.

Hall also objected to the state taking a new swab of Washington’s DNA, which Rieg said the KBI had requested. He argued that the KBI already had a sample, and that it was an unreasonable search and seizure and an invasion of Washington’s privacy to take buccal swabs of his cheek cells again.

Chief Judge James McCabria said he did not know why the KBI would want a new sample from Washington, and to Hall’s argument, “I find that very unpersuasive.”

Keck said the defense also wants any DNA evidence found in the fingernail scrapings compared to the DNA of Felipe Cantu Ruiz, Altamirano Mosso’s estranged husband. The defense has contended throughout the case that “there is substantial competent evidence that (Cantu Ruiz) … along with others, is responsible for her murder,” as stated in the recent motion seeking more DNA testing.

photo by: Journal-World

In this file photo from Sept. 4, 2015, Felipe Cantu Ruiz testifies at the preliminary hearing of Rontarus Washington Jr., who was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 7, 2014 death of Cantu Ruiz’s wife, Justina Altamirano Mosso.

Additionally, the draft order said that no further DNA testing would be sought in connection with this case. Hall objected to that, and McCabria said he did not want to rule out the possibility.

Rieg said she had not heard back from KBI on a tentative timeline for when the DNA testing could be completed. However, she said “last time” it took approximately 60-90 days. Keck said after it’s done, the defense would want their expert to review the findings.

The retrial could start on Aug. 31, but that date is not yet firm. McCabria said once that date is set, he doesn’t want to move it. The parties set the next hearing for Friday, when they hope to have a more clear timeline for the KBI to get results and will aim to firm up that retrial date.

Washington — who on Monday wore navy blue pants, indicative of minimum-security status at the Douglas County Jail — has been in custody for about five years awaiting a resolution in the case.