[Update: 4:33 p.m.: The preliminary hearing in the Mercedes Carrera and Jason Whitney trial just ended. Judge Uhler decided the defendants will be "held to answer" at an upcoming trial on the sexual molestation charges and the drug charge. The weapons charge was dismissed when the second prosecution witness, Detective Patton, who conducted the raid on Carrera and Whitney's home, confirmed that the two guns found there were not loaded at the time.
As for the sexual assault charges, the judge seemed as confused as everyone else about the timeline, based on the testimony of the minor, who referred interchangeably to "a lot of times," "five or six times," "before Christmas" and "once a month, maybe twice a month." Both Carrera and Whitney were charged either for the acts themselves or for aiding and abetting each other in the commission of the act.
The judge and the lawyers briefly debated these and related issues before the judge sent the case to jury trial. The new arraignment date on the revised charges will be August 19.]
[Update, 3:32 p.m.: The judge has called for a 10-minute recess. The afternoon session began with the rest of Officer Theis' January 31 interview with Mercedes Carrera's daughter, in which the minor expanded on her allegations of molestation by Carrera and Jason Whitney and showed familiarity with "a website called Pornhub." She told the policeman that her "momma's videos are in Pornhub because she's a porn star, a famous porn star," and after some prodding, explained that her mom's "secret name" was "Mercedes Carrera."
The tape was followed by the DA briefly cross-examining her witness, Officer Theis. Then Carrera's public defender, Joshua Castro, shifted the focus to a pre-interview, also on January 31, between the girl's father, identified as Barry Hathaway, and Thies. The policeman claimed he did not recall many of the details of that pre-interview, but a transcript obtained by Castro showed that Hathaway had informed Officer Theis of the acrimonious turn that the custody battle had taken recently.
Castro highlighted several revelations from that pre-interview, including the fact that Hathaway had been concerned about domestic violence, particularly after an alleged November incident when his daughter is said to have texted him, during a business trip, that Whitney had threatened Carrera with a gun.]
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — Over six months after adult performer Mercedes Carrera and her husband Jason Whitney were arrested at their home in Rancho Cucamonga and charged with sexual assault against a minor and guns and drugs violations, a preliminary hearing is being held at the Rancho Cucamonga court to decide if there is “probable cause” evidence to initiate a trial.
The proceedings started this morning and have just been interrupted for lunch.
At breaktime, District Attorney Brianne Durose was in the middle of playing a tape recording purportedly made at the home of the father of Mercedes Carrera's daughter on January 31, 2019. The recording was made by Officer Steve Theis of the Twin Peaks police department, who was investigating an unspecified allegation of molestation against a minor.
The tape confirms the identification of the minor as Carrera's daughter, who was nine years old at the time.
At breaktime, several minutes of the January 31 interview between Officer Theis and the minor, referred to as "Jane Doe," were played by the DA for the court, the defendants, their attorneys and an audience of a few reporters.
Theis' interview with the child was conducted in the presence of the girl's father, who "was present during the interrogation, sitting behind her, for support," Theis testified, without apparent supervision of child psychologists or child services professionals.
After a brief chit-chat where the policeman talked to the girl about her iPad games and YouTube viewing habits, Officer Thais switched to a series of probing, sexually explicit questions prefaced by statements that he, like all cops, "was a good guy" and that her father "cares about you and loves you and as your daddy he needs to protect you."
Immediately after that, Theis began asking about "things that go on at your mother's house." Carreras' daughter described several instances of what she and the officer called "cuddles," where the minor claimed both Carreras and her "stepdad," Jason Whitney, had sexually molested her.
The minor identified about 5 or 6 instances over a period of about 4 months, "before Christmas," of fondling of her private parts by Carrera and Whitney and of their making her fondle them.
When pressed for specific details by Theis, however, the minor appeared to be confused, allowing Theis to guide the conversation.
Only once, several minutes into the conversation, the minor said "my mom told me she was a porn star." The rest of the interview excerpt made no reference to Carreras' occupation.
The 1hr 15 min. tape will be played in its entirety today and its transcript entered into the public record.
DA Chooses 'Hearsay' Testimony Strategy
Today’s preliminary hearing had been repeatedly delayed, first because the defendants were attempting to retain private counsel — Carrera is represented by the San Bernardino Public Defender’s Office and Whitney by an appointed “conflict attorney” — and last month because Whitney’s attorney had been mandated to appear in another courtroom.
District Attorney (DA) Brieanne Durose, who filed the charges back in February based on evidence collected by the police from Carrera and Whitney's home, and also on the testimony of one minor less than 24 hours before the police raid, as was expected, produced a police officer as a witness.
During a jailhouse interview with XBIZ last March, Carrera identified the minor in question as her own daughter from a prior relationship. The performer was at the time of the police raid engaged in a bitter custody dispute with the girl's father, who according to Carrera disapproved of her career in the adult industry.
For preliminary hearings, as opposed to during the actual trial, the DA only has to establish “probable cause” and not guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Probable cause is a much lower threshold — i.e., less evidence is needed to move forward to the full trial.
As legal observers had anticipated, DA Durose chose not to produce the minor as a witness, opting instead for a “Prop 115 hearing” or “hearsay hearing.”
Proposition 115, known as the “Crime Victims Justice Reform Act,” made several changes in 1990 to the California Constitution, including the possibility to admit hearsay evidence at preliminary hearings, as opposed to the actual trial.
The Preliminary Hearing
Today's hearing moved between different courtrooms (or "departments") than the previous hearings on this case. Instead of Judge Stephan G. Saleson, the magistrate overseeing the case since Carrera and Whitney's arraignment, Judge Jon D Ferguson presided over a meeting and then sent the case to Judge Ingrid Adamson Uhler’s courtroom down the hall.
At 10:25, Judge Ferguson asked if the case "was ready to go," referring to it as "a big case." He entered his chambers with DA Durose, Public Defender Joshua Castro (representing Carrera) and conflict attorney Nicola Fitzgerald (representing Whitney). Durose and Fitzgerald returned to the courtroom while the judge remained in chambers with Carrera's attorney.
Castro returned after 20 minutes and Judge Ferguson instructed the parties to convene at Judge Uhler’s courtroom for the prelim.
”Castro, do we need the bodies now?” asked a guard before the lawyers went into chambers. The public defender replied in the affirmative, and other guards were called to bring in “PC [Carrera] and PC Whitney.”
”No talking!” yelled a guard to Carrera and Whitney, who have only been able to communicate with each other by closely monitored letters since they were separated during the February raid.
A media request by XBIZ to bring a laptop into the courtroom was denied. Under courtroom procedure, phones have been turned off.
We will continue updating this report after the hearing concludes this afternoon.
XBIZ is referring to Carrera by her professional name, not her birth name, throughout our coverage. For more of XBIZ's coverage of the case, click here.