Lawyer Wants Cavanaugh Case Dismissed

The attorney for a one-time Vista crime prevention commissioner accused of killing her brother asked Wednesday that the case be dismissed because of “outrageous law enforcement misconduct” during the Sheriff’s Department’s investigation of the shooting.

Charles Goldberg, the San Diego attorney representing Evanna Cavanaugh, filed a 129-page sheaf of legal motions in Vista Superior Court charging that investigators repeatedly changed their stories in an effort to thwart the defense’s case.

Phil Walden, supervising deputy district attorney in Vista, said prosecutors “were expecting” the motions, but refused further comment.

The trial is scheduled to start Monday, but Walden said he expects the judge to honor Goldberg’s request to delay it for 30 days so that motions to either dismiss the case or suppress evidence can be heard.

Cavanaugh, 47, is accused of shooting to death her brother, Charles Phegley, during an argument at their mother’s Leucadia home. During the episode, Cavanaugh recorded all that was said with a tape recorder tucked inside her purse.

Although Goldberg argued successfully last month for suppression of the tape made by Cavanaugh, the defense attorney now is using that same recording in hopes of helping his client.

In legal papers filed with the court Wednesday, Goldberg asserts that the hourlong recording reveals that investigators entered the home and apparently began a search without getting the permission of either Cavanaugh or her mother.

According to the documents, that revelation directly contradicts previous statements made in court by homicide detectives, who testified that the house was secured and vacated by law enforcement personnel until permission was granted by Cavanaugh’s mother to search the residence two to three hours later.