NORTHAMPTON — A Superior Court judge has denied convicted murderer Cara Rintala a new trial, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Rintala, convicted in 2016 at her third trial in the March 29, 2010, strangulation and beating death of her wife, Annamarie Cochrane, inside their Granby home, had sought a new trial. She claimed her attorney David Hoose of Northampton had provided an inadequate defense by not calling an expert witness to testify at trial on the reliability of a paint analysis performed by the commonwealth’s expert witness.
David Guilianelli, a paint quality engineer, testified that paint that was found on Annamarie Cochrane’s body had been poured not long before police arrived in an apparent effort to alter the crime scene.
Rintala, whose two previous trials ended in mistrials because of deadlocked juries, was sentenced to life in prison.
Superior Court Associate Justice Jane Mulqueen on Friday ruled that Rintala’s argument was “unpersuasive,” and said Hoose’s decision to thoroughly cross-examine the state’s expert instead “was not manifestly unreasonable in the circumstance.”
“The decision to call, or not to call, an expert witness fits squarely within the realm of strategic tactical decisions,” Mulqueen wrote.
First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne, who prosecuted the case along with Deputy District Attorney Jennifer H. Suhl, praised Mulqueen’s decision.
“We are pleased the Court saw through the defendant’s attempt to throw her trial attorney under the bus and blame her conviction on his performance,” Gagne said. “The defendant was convicted not because of her attorney’s performance at trial, but rather, because of the overwhelming evidence of her guilt. We look forward to defending this conviction throughout the remainder of the appellate process.”
Rintala can now appeal the denial of her motion for new trial, along with her underlying conviction, to the Supreme Judicial Court. All first-degree murder convictions are automatically reviewed by the state’s highest court.