More delays in sentencing for man convicted of molesting a 4-year-old Merced girl

Six months after a jury convicted Lonnie Lee Poslof Jr. of molesting a 4-year-old Merced girl, he’s made multiple attempts to “delay the inevitable” and face the sentence a Merced Superior Court judge will hand down, Merced County Deputy District Attorney Michael McKinney said Friday.

“It’s preventing them (the victim’s family) from getting closure,” McKinney said after a new defense attorney was assigned to Poslof’s case, further prolonging sentencing. “They went through the trial and the stress of that. We received the verdict Dec. 9. It took three years to go to trial. It’s frustrating for them.”

Poslof was found guilty of four felonies – three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and one count of oral copulation. All of the charges involve the same 4-year-old victim and took place in Merced between April and June 2013, according to Merced Police Department investigation reports.

Poslof faces a maximum of 27 years to life in prison, but throughout the case he maintained his innocence. Despite the conviction, Poslof has asked for a new trial and to represent himself. Eloise Kelsey, a defense attorney appointed to Poslof’s case on Friday, is the fourth defense attorney to represent Poslof.

After Kelsey’s appointment, Judge John Kirihara postponed Friday’s hearing to later this month to allow Kelsey to review the trial transcripts in the case.

“I know the (prosecution) is rigorously opposed to continuing the matter,” Kirihara said. “It seems to me that I need to give (Kelsey) additional time to review the file.”

Kirihara also acknowledged that the victim’s family has attended every hearing in the case.

McKinney said there’s no way to know if Poslof will keep Kelsey on the case or ask to represent himself again. “Who know what he’s going to do,” McKinney said. “I’ve never had a situation like this.”

Kelsey said during Friday’s hearing moving forward with sentencing during the June 29 hearing is “pretty unlikely.”

She could not be reached for comment Friday.

Earlier this year, Poslof requested in a hand-written motion to serve as his own attorney during a new trial, the services of an expert psychologist, a forensic handwriting expert, forensic experts and an investigator.

He also asked the court for the services of an expert entomologist, an insect scientist.

Poslof has been critical of the Merced Police Department, Merced County District Attorney’s Office, his attorneys and the judge. Shortly after the verdict was announced in December, Poslof shouted at Kirihara as he was leaving the courtroom, saying, “The judge put away an innocent person.”

Poslof remains in custody without bail at the John Latoracca Correctional Center.

This story was originally published June 2, 2017 at 5:30 PM with the headline "More delays in sentencing for man convicted of molesting a 4-year-old Merced girl."