Becker Trial Jury Selection Starts in Late October

With the Santa Clara Superior Courthouse in San Jose backed up with court cases, the perjury trial of Santa Clara City Council Member Anthony Becker had taken a back seat to other trials more than once. That’s not the case now.

On Sept. 16, Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson assigned the trial to Judge Javier Alcala at the South County Superior Courthouse in Morgan Hill.

Judge Alcala heard arguments from Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky and Deputy Public Defender Chris Montoya on Sept. 17. The meeting happened in chambers.

During the public portion of the hearing, Judge Alcala said the jury selection will begin on Oct. 28. The court will use three panels of jurors and hand out questionnaires for them to complete on the 28th. It will also hear hardships on that date.

Following that, Malinsky and Montoya will read through the questionnaires and make selections for the jury.

The trial is expected to begin on Oct. 31 or Nov. 1, depending on how quickly a jury can be seated.

Both sides say they have submitted their witness lists. They have until Sept. 23 to file any motions that need to be heard before the trial.

The court will hold a hearing on Sept. 25 in Morgan Hill to talk about all of the subpoenas issued for the trial. One of those still pending a ruling is a motion to quash submitted by Santa Clara City Council Member Kathy Watanabe.

The defense has subpoenaed emails to, from, drafted and deleted by Watanabe between Oct. 1, 2022 and Oct. 15, 2022.