LA GRANDE — The defense attorney for a La Grande man heading to trial plans to argue his client is guilty except for insanity.

Mamas Genagritis faces a second-degree murder charge in the May 2022 slaying of his girlfriend, Deanna Badgley, at the couple’s Robbs Hill Road home. With the trial set to begin April 7, Genagritis’ attorney, James Schaeffer, and Union County District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel have submitted pretrial motions the court considers at an omnibus hearing on Thursday, Feb. 27.

Motions in limine are pretrial requests to exclude specific evidence or arguments from trial. These motions typically aim to address potentially prejudicial, irrelevant or inadmissible information that could influence a jury.

The district attorney’s office has submitted 10 motions in limine — each of which address a specific issue.

Motions in limine are pretrial requests to exclude specific evidence or arguments from trial. These motions typically aim to address potentially prejudicial, irrelevant or inadmissible information that could influence a jury. They also can seek to establish someone as an expert or request a witness be able to attend proceedings remotely.

The defense has submitted two, but each motion seeks to handle a number of issues. The attorneys also have also responded to the other party’s motions.

According to court documents, Genagritis on May 23, 2022, around 7:30 p.m. called Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen asking for help and stating he had killed Badgley. When police arrived, Genagritis met officers in the driveway yelling, “Help me. I killed her, I hit her with (a) hammer.”

Police took Genagritis into custody, and officers observed blood on his hands and clothes.

Officers found Badgley’s body inside the home with numerous wounds. Police stated it appeared she had been dragged from a bedroom into the kitchen area of the home.

The motions

Schaeffer gave notice to the court on Jan. 3 that Genagritis’ will rely on the defense of qualified mental disorder, that is, guilty except for insanity.

A handful of the motions revolve around either Genagritis’ mental state, mental health or testimony relating to those matters.

McDaniel submitted a motion requesting a court order that would prohibit witnesses from expressing opinions on whether or not the defendant acted under extreme emotional disturbance. She argued experts should be limited to providing information to the jury demonstrating the extreme emotional disturbance defense

Legal precedent in Oregon declares that “intentionally” and “extreme emotional disturbance” are defined legal terms whose meaning does not necessarily match up with the meaning an average person or medical professional ascribes.

The DA also submitted a motion to limit the testimony of two of the defense’s witnesses — Genagritis’ daughter Eleni and his friend Todd Crouch — who the defense investigator interviewed.

McDaniel argued in her motion that Eleni Genagritis and Crouch made statements in their respective interviews that would be inadmissible at trial due to being hearsay or speculative.

Schaeffer responded to the DA’s motion and asked the court to deny it. He argued the court should not limit the defense’s ability to ask Genagritis’ daughter or Crouch background questions that would support the extreme emotional disturbance or guilty except for insanity defense.

He went on to write Eleni Genagritis’ testimony regarding conversations with her father leading up the May 23, 2022, should be admissible under several hearsay exceptions, including state of mind and medical diagnosis or treatment.

Schaeffer submitted his own motion seeking to exclude the state from offering evidence of malingering, or exaggerating or pretending psychological symptoms to avoid a prison sentence.

McDaniel wants the court to deny the defense’s motion. She argued in response the expert opinion that Genagritis’ was malingering is relevant evidence. The evaluators will offer the results of the test and use their expertise to help the jury understand the results.

The state has also filed other motions to:

• Allow remote observation.
• Introduce chain of custody evidence in omnibus hearing in lieu of trial.
• Compel.
• Allow victim witness to observe trial.
• Recognize Kathy Kittell as an expert in bloodstain pattern analysis.
• Designate case agent trooper Chas Koenig.
• Allow state’s expert and contents of his report/resources.
• Advise defendant of courtroom behavior expectations.

The defense filed additional motions to:

• Allow witness testimony in support of extreme emotional disturbance and guilty except for insanity defense.
• Exclude state from offering evidence of malingering.
• Exclude state from offering autopsy photographs.
• Allow character evidence.

Union County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Powers gets to rule on all of these motions.