San Diego

Elisabeth Broderick received a new trial date of Sept. 20 on Tuesday, after her attorney told a judge that a fire at his home last week destroyed most of his records on the double-murder case.

Broderick, 43, of La Jolla, was to have her second trial start Aug. 5. She is accused of the 1989 fatal shootings of her former husband, attorney Daniel Broderick III, 44, and his new wife, Linda Broderick, 28.

Attorney Jack Earley told San Diego Superior Court Judge Thomas Whelan that he lost important notes in the June 26 fire at his home in Laguna Niguel.

Earley told reporters afterward that the lost documents included transcripts of previous testimony, witness summaries and phone lists that will have to be duplicated. He said damages were estimated at $300,000, and the fire was believed to have started from an electrical short. No one was injured.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells didn’t object to a delay in the trial because of the fire, but she urged the judge to set a trial date sooner than Earley requested.

Broderick, dressed in a jail-issue gray sweat shirt and blue pants, said nothing during the hearing except to agree to the trial delay.

Afterward, the defense attorney said he probably will not seek to have the trial moved to another county.

A jury deadlock in November forced a mistrial.