A former Nottingham state representative facing drug and sex solicitation charges is asking for two separate trials in Rockingham County Superior Court.
Kyle Tasker is scheduled to stand trial in May on more than a dozen charges, but is arguing that some of the charges are unrelated, and therefore shouldn’t be weighed by the same 12 jurors.
Police said they found “vast amounts” of drugs, including marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms and ecstasy, when they searched Tasker’s home in March. The search took place the same day as his arrest on a felony computer solicitation charge, which alleges he tried to lure a 14-year-old girl into a sexual encounter in Northwood. That teen turned out to be an undercover police officer, who’d taken over the girl’s Facebook account.
The girl told police Tasker offered to supply her and her friends with drugs and alcohol, according to court documents.
Defense attorney Alan Chronheim recently filed the trial request on Tasker’s behalf. However, a judge will not issue a decision until after a hearing March 16 in Brentwood.
Prosecutors say the two cases are related, have many of the same witnesses, and therefore should be heard by one jury.
Tasker is awaiting trial from behind bars. He agreed to have his bail revoked in early December, after prosecutors alleged he violated his bail conditions by driving impaired in Rochester.