Mar. 15—CONCORD — Physical evidence and documents used last year to convict Logan Clegg of murdering a Concord couple were made available to media to view on Friday, a move that legal experts say is rare and could risk the integrity of a retrial.
Clegg was found guilty in October of fatally shooting Steve and Djeswende “Wendy” Reid in April 2022. In December, he was sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in state prison.
A formal application to review the state prison sentence was filed with the Supreme Court on Jan. 14 and accepted for review on Feb. 23, which is mandatory for all criminal cases. The appeal questions several decisions made by the court on motions made ahead of trial, as well as on testimony and evidence allowed during trial.
“If widespread media is reporting on this evidence, it could influence potential jurors if there is a retrial. That’s the first thing that comes to mind for me,” said attorney Charles Keefe of Wilson, Bush and Keefe, P.C. “If there is a retrial, it could potentially cause issues with potential jurors having knowledge of the case or forming an opinion about the case.”
During the viewing in Merrimack Superior Court on Friday, documents and photographs, with the exception of photos of the victims taken from the recovery site and during autopsy, was flipped through and photographed. Physical evidence remained in packaging and was opened and handled only by a member of the court.
Despite a formal request to view the murder weapon — a Glock 17 found in Clegg’s possession at the time of his arrest — the Concord Police Department did not bring the firearm to the courthouse.
“If the appeal is successful and there is a retrial, defense lawyers could make the argument that the evidence is potentially compromised,” Keefe said. “But getting a successful retrial in a criminal case is rare, and getting it in a homicide case is very rare.”
Keefe said that a media viewing of evidence in any case is highly unusual. He speculated it took place because of public interest in the case.
Twice, criminal defense attorneys Caroline Smith and Maya Dominguez filed motions on behalf of Clegg to preserve evidence and reconsider the handling of exhibits by law enforcement and court personnel “on the basis that it is not only important to preserve the evidence of a potential subsequent trial, but also to preserve the integrity for future DNA testing.”
One of the motions attempted to block the media from viewing the trial exhibits, which was denied. Smith and Dominguez have since withdrawn as Clegg’s counsel, which is mandatory when the case is taken up by the Supreme Court. An appellate defender was assigned to the case Feb. 14.
“I agree, I would not want the media or anyone to handle evidence that could be degraded to the point that it could not be retested if that is something that could or would be done,” said attorney Nicole Shultz-Price of Devine, Millimet and Branch, PA. “But there really is no risk (of DNA transfer) if the contents remain within the evidence bags, the bags are not opened, and the viewing (by the media) are under supervision.”
As a criminal defense attorney, Keefe said that if this were his case and his client, a media viewing of evidence would make him nervous.
“A piece of evidence only has meaning in context and context can be entirely speculative,” he said. “But the press does have certain rights to access the courts and the information they have in court.”
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