POCATELLO — During the first day of testimony in the post-conviction relief hearing for convicted killer Torey Adamcik on Tuesday, family members and a former teacher testified about the defendant’s character.

    Adamcik’s former attorney, Aaron Thompson, of Pocatello, said that such testimony  was not presented to the jury during the original murder trial in 2007.

    Adamcik was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2006 stabbing death of Cassie Jo Stoddart. Co-defendant Brian Draper was also convicted of first-degree murder in Stoddart’s death in a separate trial in 2007.

    The Idaho Supreme Court has upheld both convictions.

    Stoddart was killed while house-sitting for a family member; she was stabbed 29 times.

    Thompson represented Adamcik in the 2007 murder trial, along with Greg May and Bron Rammell, all of Pocatello.

    The defense team originally planned to call character witnesses to testify on behalf of Adamcik and to distinguish him from his co-defendant.

   But Thompson said then-Bannock County Prosecutor Mark Heideman presented a disc downloaded from a computer in the Adamcik family room. The disc contained child pornography, evidence of cruelty to animals and images from horror movies.

    Thompson said the prosecutor said that if the defense team dropped the character defense, they would not present the disc.

    Boise attorney Dennis Benjamin, with the firm of Nevin, Benjamin, McKay and Bartlett in Boise, is representing Adamcik in the current evidentiary hearing — Benjamin specializes in appeals and post-conviction proceedings.

    In October, Benjamin argued that Adamcik should be granted a new trial, or at least a new sentencing for his role in the murder of Stoddart.

    Tuesday, Benjamin asked if motions had been filed to suppress or exclude the images from the computer, and Thompson said no motion was filed.

    “We were very worried about that information coming in,” Thompson said. “Our strategy kind of shifted.”

    Thompson said no motion was filed regarding the search of the Adamcik residence, which netted the disc.

    “If I had thought that there was any legal basis to file a motion, I would have,” Thompson said.

    Torey Adamcik’s father, Sean Adamcik, said the family was called to the law library of May, Rammell and Thompson when the disc was discovered. He said he watched a few frames, ejected the disc and observed that it was created about six weeks earlier.

    “I looked at it and I told them they didn’t just get this,” Sean said. “I told them that it had to be late discovery and the images didn’t have anything to do with the charges against Torey.”  

    Bannock County Deputy Prosecutor Ian Service asked Sean Adamick if it was his opinion that the images in the disc were not child pornography, and if he recalled seeing images of animal skulls and skeletons in disarray, an image of a Rambo-type knife or a pentagon carved into bloody flesh.

    Sean Adamcik said he remembered seeing movie and CD jackets.

    Benjamin noted that the boys in the images contained on the disc were about the same age as Torey Adamcik was in 2006.

    Thompson said he did file a motion to suppress a police interview with Torey Adamcik.

    During the interview, Torey Adamcik said he thought he should have his attorney present. But officers continued to talk to his father, and at one point, Torey Adamcik nodded his head.  

    Judge Peter McDermott excluded part of the interview.

    Torey Adamcik’s mother, Shannon Adamcik, took the stand and said the character defense was “half” of their case.

    “I wanted the jury to know him, to know Torey and the difference between him and Draper,” Shannon Adamcik said. “This was not the defense we expected.”

    Shannon Adamcik also testified that at one point, the prosecution said if Torey Adamcik pleaded guilty, they would not make any sentencing recommendations in the murder case.

    “But the judge could have still sentenced him to life without parole,” Shannon Adamcik said.

    She said no other plea deals were presented to them.

    Torey Adamcik, now 25, made notes and watched the court proceedings closely on Tuesday.

    About a dozen of Stoddart’s family members were in the courtroom as well.

    Stoddart’s grandfather, Paul Cisneros, said he has had no contact with the Adamcik family since Stoddart was murdered.

    Torey Adamcik’s former teacher at Hawthorne Middle School, Rusty Adamson, said she knew him to be immature and a follower, not a leader.

    “He had friends, but he was willing to hang back and let them take the lead,” Adamson said.

    Service asked if Adamson had taught Torey Adamcik between seventh and 10th grade, and Adamson said she had not. But she said Torey Adamcik came back to middle school to visit on occasion.

    Torey’s Adamcik’s sister, Lacey Adamcik, said she drove her brother to school every day and the family had dinner together every night.

    “Torey loved movies, music and drawing,” Lacey said. “He was friendly. He always had a lot of friends at the house.”

    Service objected to the putting the character witnesses on the stand, and Benjamin argued that it demonstrated how the character defense might have affected the case.

    Torey Adamcik was transported to Bannock County from Boise on Monday. The hearing resumes Wednesday at 9 a.m. and is expected to wrap up Thursday.