A man facing a murder charge, whose case was initially dismissed in 2018, has demanded his right to a speedy trial after an appeals court overturned the dismissal, sending the case back to Nevada County.
The appeals court that overturned a 2018 dismissal of a murder charge against Finley Fultz concurred with the lower trial court that prosecutors had made serious errors in handling evidence against Fultz.
A man who has been in custody since 2014 for his connection to an alleged Penn Valley murder will withdraw his guilty pleas in the case, throwing the status of the case into doubt.
Nathan Robert Philbrook, 37, had previously pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and felony robbery in connection with the slaying of Isaac Zafft in 2014. As part of a negotiated deal worked out between Philbrook’s legal counsel and the Nevada County District Attorney in 2018, the court had dismissed a first-degree murder charge against Philbrook.
But at the defendant’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday, defense attorney David Alkire announced that Philbrook is withdrawing his guilty pleas to all charges.