A decision on whether a Vancouver man — convicted of trying to hire a hit man to kill or assault his wife — should be granted a new trial has been postponed until at least August.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis began hearing testimony this week concerning issues raised by the defense in the 2008 trial of Dino Constance.
Through Seattle attorney Neil Fox, Constance is appealing his conviction by accusing Prosecutor Tony Golik, who tried Constance’s case as a deputy prosecutor, of misconduct.
Constance is also alleging that his defense attorney didn’t adequately represent him.
Fox told the judge that he needed more time to interview witnesses. Lewis set another two days of testimony for Aug. 3 and 4.
Secret ‘deal’ denied
This week, Zachary Brown — one of the four men whom Constance solicited to attack his wife — testified that he was not given a favorable plea deal in exchange for his testimony against Constance. Constance had argued that Golik was guilty of cutting a deal with Brown and not disclosing this to the defense.
The pending appeal was a focus of the final weeks of November’s Clark County prosecuting attorney race. Golik’s opponent in the November election, Brent Boger, tried to use Constance’s allegations to discredit Golik to voters.
Constance, a former loan officer, was arrested May 7, 2007, after reportedly offering four people, including a cellmate, as much as $10,000 to kill Jean A. Koncos, his wife and the mother of his young son. He reportedly was enraged over their long-simmering custody battle. He is serving 53 years in prison.
