Nancy Brophy Trial Resumes: Did Prosecutor's COVID-19 Test Delay It?

PORTLAND, OR — A prosecutor appeared to be responsible for a nearly two-week break in the murder trial of Nancy Crampton Brophy, a romance novelist accused of killing her husband Daniel Brophy, a popular chef/instructor at the Oregon Culinary Institute.

The possibility that Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Shawn Overstreet was the one who had a positive COVID-19 test was suggested in open court Tuesday during a testy interchange between him and defense lawyer Lisa Mayfield.

Previously the Multnomah County Circuit Court had said that the trial was delayed because someone associated with it tested positive for COVID-19, without revealing the identity of the person.

At one point Tuesday morning, lawyers discussed issues before Judge Christopher Ramras prior to the jury's arrival in the courtroom. Overstreet approached the defense table to hand over a document, leading Mayfield to move back and ask that he keep his distance because he was "symptomatic."

Overstreet thanked Mayfield in a sarcastic tone for disclosing his status in open court and told Ramras that he was not symptomatic.

It's not clear what Overstreet's current status is or whether he was sick, exposed to someone who tested positive or might have exposed others in the trial to the coronavirus. Patch reached out to the Multnomah County District's Attorney's Office for comment.

Following the interchange, the prosecution and defense teams spent much of the morning sparring over tactics, arguing what should and shouldn't be admissible and asking the judge to force the other side to disclose items.

Around 11 a.m., the defense began presenting its case and called as its first witness James Denny, a landscaper hired by the Brophys to work on their Beaverton home.

The prosecution rested its case on April 12 after 12 days of testimony in which it tried to prove that Crampton Brophy walked into the Oregon Culinary Institute on June 2, 2018, and shot her husband twice, killing him.

Crampton Brophy, who once penned an essay, "How to Murder Your Husband," was arrested three months later.

In presenting his case, Overstreet portrayed Crampton Brophy as greedy and motivated by an insurance policy on her husband worth almost $1.5 million.

The first four witnesses called by the defense were intended to rebut that assertion as well as establish that the Brophys had a much stronger relationship than the prosecution had asserted.

One witness, a certified public accountant, Tiffany Couch, testified that the prosecution's forensic accountant, Robert Azorr was too limited in his analysis of the Brophys' finances, looking at only two of their accounts.

They had six other accounts, Couch testified.

The trial continues Wednesday, the 14th day of the trial.