SAN DIEGO (CNS) – An ex-Marine charged with murdering his girlfriend at an Allied Gardens apartment nearly a decade ago will get a new hearing to determine whether his case will head to trial because prosecutors didn’t turn over evidence that his attorneys claim could exonerate him.
Raymond Samuel McLeod Jr, 41, was ordered to stand trial last fall for the June 10, 2016, strangulation death of 30-year-old Krystal Mitchell, which McLeod’s attorneys claim was accidental and occurred during an act of rough, but consensual sex.
During McLeod’s preliminary hearing, the defense team introduced extensive evidence regarding McLeod’s sexual history — which touched on several instances of him engaging in choking during sex with numerous, consenting partners — in a bid to show Mitchell’s death happened inadvertently.
- PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ex-Marine accused of killing his girlfriend in 2016 enters not guilty plea
But in a recently filed motion to dismiss the murder case, McLeod’s attorneys said that before the preliminary hearing, prosecutors failed to turn over evidence from Mitchell’s cell phone and computer showing she shared an interest in that type of sexual activity with McLeod…