Kelley trial date pushed back to April

JOHN DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -- The last of 1,354 pages of documents relating to the Kelley abuse case arrived at the Palmer district attorney's office Monday, a state prosecutor said at a district court pre-trial conference Wednesday afternoon.

Palmer Assistant District Attorney Rachel Gernat, Palmer Public Defender George Davenport and Rachel Levitt, an attorney from the state Office of Public Advocacy, asked Judge John Wolfe for more time to review the documents, which include police reports, interviews, photographs and other records.

Patrick and Sherry Kelley, who entered the courtroom Wednesday handcuffed together, have been incarcerated since their arrest

in September.

Together they face a total of 54 criminal charges, including nine felony counts, for allegedly abusing their five adopted children, ages 6 to 15, on a primitive family compound near Big Lake.

Davenport and Levitt -- who are representing Sherry and Patrick Kelley, respectively -- and Gernat said they have not had a chance to review even a fraction of the huge stack of documents. Wolfe scheduled the next pre-trial conference for 3 p.m., March 17, and set a trial date for April 25.

But the April trial date will only be a "place-holder," Gernat said, because she has no way of knowing how much more time will be needed to review the documents relating to the case.

In addition to the documents, George and Shirley Long -- the children's adoptive grandparents -- recently agreed to testify for the state. The Longs, parents of Sherry Kelley, had faced 12 misdemeanor counts for their alleged involvement in the abuse, and had been incarcerated since their arrest in September, shortly after the Kelleys' arrest.

Shirley Long struck a deal with the state and was released Nov. 15; George Long was released Dec. 9 under an agreement to plead no contest to assault charges and cooperate with the state.

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.