Lawyer Dragged Out During Murder Trial

Judge's gavel on a law book beside a stamped document — LAWYER DRAGGED OUT FROM THIS

A Modesto murder trial collapsed this week after sheriff’s deputies hauled the defendant’s own lawyer out of the courthouse on suspicion of being high on drugs.

Story Snapshot

Stanislaus County Judge Valli Israels declared a mistrial without prejudice in Kelley Marie Ball’s six-year-old DUI-murder case.
Defense attorney Christopher Loethen, 50, was arrested at the courthouse September 16 during active trial proceedings.
He was booked on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, being under the influence, and public intoxication.
Loethen then skipped two straight court days and ignored repeated calls and emails from the court.

An Arrest That Stopped a Trial Cold

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Loethen right outside the courtroom around noon, according to Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Sergeant Michael Carranza. He was booked into the county’s public safety center on three separate suspicions tied to drugs and intoxication. The timing could not have been worse. A jury was already hearing evidence in a murder case that had dragged on for six years before finally reaching trial.

Shocking twist in California murder case as suspect's attorney arrested in court https://t.co/oosbpIfYet pic.twitter.com/w5czkJC0Rk

— New York Post (@nypost) September 20, 2026

Loethen represented Ball, who faces charges connected to a fatal drunk-driving case in Modesto. After his arrest, he simply vanished from the proceedings.

Court staff tried reaching him by phone and email for two full days. He never answered and never showed up. That left Judge Israels with a defendant who technically had a lawyer on paper, but no lawyer actually present to defend her.

Why a Missing Lawyer Forces a Mistrial

Judges do not order mistrials lightly. Legal defender manuals used across the country note that a mistrial is required when something happens during trial that causes “substantial and irreparable prejudice” to the defendant’s case.

A defense attorney who disappears for two days after a drug-related arrest fits that standard about as clearly as it gets. Without counsel present, the trial could not fairly continue for either side.

Courts have wrestled with attorney impairment before, and the pattern is instructive. Appellate rulings generally hold that losing a lawyer to incapacity does not automatically wreck a conviction if a substitute can step in or a short continuance fixes things.

But those cases involve sudden illness or scheduling conflicts, not an attorney facing new criminal charges himself while his client’s murder case is live in front of a jury.

Not the First Time a Defense Lawyer Has Derailed a Trial

Courthouse disruptions caused by defense counsel are rare but not unheard of. In 1998, a Los Angeles murder trial was postponed after the lead defense attorney suffered a heart attack just hours before opening statements.

More recently, the murder trial of former Orange County Judge Jeffrey Ferguson ended in mistrial after jurors deadlocked, though that case involved a hung jury rather than an attorney’s personal crisis.

The Lindsay Clancy triple-murder case in Massachusetts also ended in mistrial after a jury could not agree on a verdict, prompting fierce public debate over how the justice system handles emotionally charged cases. What sets the Modesto case apart is that the disruption came from the defense side of the courtroom, not the jury box.

What Happens Next for the Defendant

Because Israels declared the mistrial without prejudice, prosecutors keep the option to retry Ball. That means the case restarts, likely with new defense counsel appointed to replace Loethen.

For a case already six years in the making, this adds yet another delay to a justice process that victims’ families and defendants alike have every right to expect moves faster.

An arrest is only an allegation at this stage, and Loethen has not been convicted of anything. Still, the basic sequence of events is not in dispute: he was arrested at the courthouse during trial, booked on drug-related suspicions, and then went silent for two days while a murder case hung in the balance. That combination left the judge with no real choice but to start over.

Cases like this test a basic promise our courts make to every defendant: a real lawyer, present and capable, at every stage of trial. When that promise breaks down, even temporarily, the whole process has to stop and reset.

Taxpayers foot the bill for a redo, victims wait longer for resolution, and the defendant’s fate stays unsettled. It is a costly reminder that a trial’s integrity depends on every person in the room being fit to do their job.