Second Week of Testimony in Raymond Lee Oyler Arson-Murder Trial

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Will potentially damaging testimony from Raymond Lee Oyler's live-in girlfriend be aired before a jury hearing the arson-murder charges against him? That's an issue now before a Riverside County California judge.

At the end of the second full week of testimony in Oyler's trial Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Michael Hestrin sought the courtroom presence of Crystal Breazile who claims Oyler had told her he had set previous fires in the Beaumont-Banning area of Southern California and wanted to set another, larger fire on a nearby hill.

But defense attorney Mark McDonald argued Breazile should not appear before the jury because her pre-trial statements had been "coerced" by arson investigators.

Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan held a hearing, without the jury present, all day Friday in which a recording and the transcript of Breazile's previous interview were reviewed. Breazile was on the stand, briefly.

No decision on officially admitting her statements was made. Another hearing on this issue is set for Monday morning, without the jury, in Judge Morgan's courtroom at the Riverside County Hall of Justice.

Also this past week, a forensic expert identified Oyler's DNA on cigarette butts at two deliberately set area brush fires five months before the 40-thousand plus acre Esperanza fire of October 2006 that took the lives of five U.S. Forest Service Firefighters. $$ And a prosecution expert testified there was a link between the various fire-setting devices used to start a series of blazes in that region that year.

In the meantime, Oyler's defense team successfully argued against a photo and testimony about an electronic fire ignition device from being seen or heard by the jury of nine women and three men.

For the record, the prosecution says so far it has presented about three-quarters of the witnesses and evidence it has against the 38-year old former auto mechanic in this case.

Oyler's first-degree murder charges could result in a death penalty should he be convicted.

Watch Bill Lorin's report on the Opening Statements.

Watch Bill Lorin's report on Week 1 Testimony.

Watch Bill Lorin's report on Week 3 Testimony.