Murder Charge Upheld in Vista

A motion to dismiss a murder charge against a 47-year-old Vista woman in the death of her brother was denied Thursday by a Vista Superior Court judge.

Judge Herbert Hoffman also indicated that he will deny an additional defense motion to suppress other evidence. Hoffman said he will rule on that motion next week.

Thursday’s hearing was the third legal maneuver by defense attorney Charles Goldberg to gain a favorable ruling for his client, Evanna Cavanaugh, who has pleaded innocent to first-degree murder in the shooting death of her brother.

In January, Hoffman threw out a tape-recorded confession that Cavanaugh made to sheriff’s detectives and a recording made on a microcassette player that was in her purse during the shooting.

Hoffman agreed that the confession was obtained illegally by the detectives after Cavanaugh had asked to speak to an attorney. The microcassette recording was suppressed as evidence because the officers failed to obtain a search warrant before listening to it.

Cavanaugh is accused of killing her brother, Charles Phegley, on Nov. 19, 1985, in their mother’s Leucadia home. Cavanaugh claims she took a loaded .38-caliber pistol to give to her mother as protection from Phegley, who had a history of mental illness and violence.

On Thursday, Hoffman disagreed with the contention of Goldberg and attorney Pat Hull, that the trial should be dismissed because of police misconduct.

Hoffman said the officers were not involved in the offense itself, and, if there was misconduct after the killing, it did not interfere with Cavanaugh’s defense.

On the motion to suppress additional evidence--the body, gun and a 911 emergency tape recording made at the time of the crime--Hoffman said he does not think that the presence of unauthorized officers in the house, after other legally admitted officers had seen the evidence, was a persuasive argument.

After Thursday’s hearing, Goldberg said he will consider plea bargaining for his client because he is “concerned about my client’s health and getting the best resolution of the case.” Cavanaugh, who suffers from cancer, is “quite ill,” sources close to the case said.

The prosecutor has offered Cavanaugh the possibility of pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, which carries a 3- to 11-year prison term.