Moreno to be retried for manslaughter
By Terry Murry on Thursday, June 22nd, 2023 in Columbia Basin News Featured Stories
WALLA WALLA – The new trial for Leslie Moreno, 29, of Waitsburg is set to begin August 8. She is accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend, Marcus Allessio, in 2018.
On Tuesday, Walla Walla County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Mulhern filed amended information, officially charging Moreno with first-degree manslaughter. Mulhern said the state cannot re-file the original second-degree murder charge, as Moreno was acquitted of that at trial, and convicted instead of first-degree manslaughter in August 2021.
Last month, the Washington State Court of Appeals reversed Moreno’s conviction after she successfully argued her attorney failed to seek self-defense instructions applicable to first-degree manslaughter. Mulhern said Moreno will also be appointed a new attorney at the defendant’s request.
“We’re waiting for the court to assign new counsel who both does not have a conflict and is murder qualified,” Mulhern said. Moreno is currently being held in the Walla Walla County Jail. Her bail is set at $250,000.
