The former Marine accused of killing his on-base neighbor, who he was having an affair with, and dumping her body into an abandoned mine east of Twentynine Palms, was in court yesterday. Managing Editor Tami Roleff was in the courtroom as Christopher Lee’s lawyer seeks another judge…
The judge hearing the case of accused murderer Christopher Lee did not reassign the case to another judge yesterday, despite a court opinion issued earlier this month by the Court of Appeals that his lawyer’s request for a new judge was timely. Lee’s attorney David Kaloyanides had requested a change in judges in April, which Judge Rodney Cortez denied, saying the request should have been filed in August. Kaloyanides appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeals, which issued its opinion July 7 allowing the change in judges. But since the appeals court has not issued an official writ yet, and the district attorney’s office still has time in which to appeal the court’s decision, Lee’s case was continued to September 22. Kaloyanides told Z107.7 News that Judge Bert Swift will be assigned to the the case at that time. Christopher Lee, 25, is accused of killing his former neighbor and lover, Erin Corwin, 19, of Twentynine Palms, and dumping her body down a 140-foot mine shaft east of Twentynine Palms in June 2014.
