State of Alaska v. Joshua Wahl

Anchorage, Alaska, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with multiple counts of first- and second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Jennifer Gardiner and Timothy Evans.



After several bail hearings, Wahl remains in custody pending trial. Wahl now appeals from the court's ruling at his most recent bail hearing declining to approve his proposed third-party custodian.



At the bail hearing, Wahl requested that the court approve Nathaniel Landry as a third-party custodian, impose house arrest with private electronic monitoring, and reduce his bail amount from a $200,000 cash performance bond to a $35,000 cash performance bond.



Landry testified at the hearing. He explained that he did not know Wahl and had never met or spoken to him. Rather, Wahl's attorney had asked Landry to be a third-party custodian and Landry said that he wished to do so because, as a minister, he believed in second chances and thought he could make a difference in Wahl's life. Landry stated that he had previously served as a third-party custodian without issue, understood what was required of a third-party custodian, and would follow the court's orders and report any bail violations by Wahl.



Landry's testimony revealed that he has substantial medical issues, including kidney disease and chronic pain. He has multiple weekly medical appointments, including dialysis three times per week and a weekly appointment for wound care (for a recent surgical repair). On the days he has dialysis, he is normally picked up between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m., on the dialysis machine for several hours, and returned home by 5:00 p.m. Landry stated that Wahl could accompany him to dialysis. Landry is required to take a number of daily medications, including narcotics. Landry stated that he is ambulatory, but uses a walker for assistance as needed.



Landry testified that he anticipated that Wahl would be providing some caretaking functions for him, including helping him to prepare his meals, bring groceries into the house, and transport his walker when he is going down the stairs or in and out of the house.



Initially, Landry had intended for Wahl to live with him, but the owners of his apartment building did not approve of Wahl living in the building. Wahl instead proposed living with Landry at Wahl's family's home. Landry testified that, although he was familiar with the layout of the proposed residence and knew it was a ranch-style house, he had never been there before.



The court (the same judge who had presided over Wahl's prior bail hearings) declined to approve Landry as Wahl's third-party custodian. The court noted the seriousness of the charges and stated that its primary goal was community safety and ensuring that Wahl followed the court's orders. While the court lauded the strength of Landry's faith and found Landry to be a bright and articulate person, the court noted that it needed to consider Landry's relationship to Wahl and whether Landry was physically able to perform the duties of a third-party custodian.[1] The court was struck

by how unusual it was that Landry had never met Wahl. The court also found that Landry was "medically and physically fragile." The court concluded that Landry's need to attend to his own substantial medical demands made him an inappropriate third-party custodian for this murder case.



Wahl filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing that the court erred in finding that Landry was medically and physically frail, and that the record showed that Landry was willing and able to fulfill the supervisory duties of a third-party custodian.[2]The court denied Wahl's motion for reconsideration.

Affirmed