A trial for a rural Tyrone man accused of child sex charges has been put on hold.
Judge Elizabeth Doyle’s office confirmed the trial for 49-year-old John William Baird, Jr., RR 1, Tyrone, was delayed after the judge approved a request by attorney Dave Beyer, a public defender appointed to represent Baird.
Attorney Beyer told The Daily Herald his client has denied the charges. He said the child involved had given police a statement regarding a piece of clothing that would indicate the possibility of DNA evidence.
The item had been discarded after the alleged incident and may have been exposed to the elements. The item had been analyzed by the state police crime lab in Greensburg and according to Beyer the results were negative that any DNA matched his client’s.
Beyer said he had just learned of the results recently and he asked for the delay since the information might be helpful to his client. He was concerned the prosecution might also contend the weather had destroyed the DNA evidence.
Beyer said he needed time to have his expert review the information. He said he had already talked to an expert who told him it would be unlikely that Baird’s DNA would not be present on the item if it existed simply because of weather elements affecting it.
Baird’s trial was to have started on Tuesday according to Beyer. He did not know when the trial would commence as of this morning’s interview with him.
