Nantucket (October 4, 2009) – Joan Fund, attorney for accused murderer Thomas E. Ryan, submitted several motions to the superior court as part of her defense of Ryan that were heard by a judge sitting on Nantucket last week during the fall superior court session. Among the motions was a petition opposing a district attorney’s office motion for a new DNA sample from Ryan, charged with the fatal stabbing of a fellow house painter, Scott Bernard, last March. Fund also requested that Ryan be moved from the Barnstable House of Correction where he is held without bail to a state institution, a motion objected to, mainly for the expense, by assistant district attorney Michael Trudeau. A third motion seeks the criminal history and records of Bernard’s behavior at various addresses between January 1 and March 6, 2009. The judge took those motions under advisement. His ruling on the other motions, primarily seeking documents, was unknown on Friday. More...