By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com
Tylar Marie Witt's much anticipated appearance as a prosecution witness against her teen lover was delayed another day this morning due to an illness of Witt's public defender.
Witt, 16, is expected to testify to details of the brutal stabbing of her mother, Joanne M. Witt, in their El Dorado Hills home in June 2009. Her then-19-year-old boyfriend, Steven Paul Colver, is charged with slaying Joanne Witt after she filed a statutory rape complaint against him over his relationship with her daughter.
Witt, whom prosecutors say summoned Colver to kill her mother but didn't participate in the stabbing, was originally scheduled to testify last Thursday. But that appearance was delayed after prosecutors informed the defense of new DNA evidence in the case. Colver's lawyer, Dain Weiner, is seeking to exclude the evidence in a hearing next Monday.
Tylar Witt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea deal that could free her on parole at 29. Colver faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.
Weiner said in his opening statements that it was the girl who killed her mother. He asserted that Colver only arrived after Witt called him after the fact.
"She is obviously a key witness," Weiner said today. "There are just a lot of details everybody wants to hear from Tylar."
Photo: Tylar Witt is escorted into the courtroom at the El Dorado County courthouse in Placerville on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. Witt was expected to testify against lover Steven Colver, and Judge Daniel B. Proud was due to rule on new evidence. Witt did not testify and the case was continued until tomorrow. Randall Benton/rbenton@sacbee.com









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