BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The 5th District Court of Appeal has upheld the murder conviction of former school principal Leslie Chance, finding law enforcement’s failure to turn over several interviews to defense counsel non-prejudicial.
Chance, 56, will continue to serve 50 years to life in prison in the death of her husband. The court’s opinion was filed Friday.
Chance was found guilty in 2020 of first-degree murder in the killing of 45-year-old Todd Chance. She planned and carried out the Aug. 25, 2013, killing after discovering flirtatious text messages between him and a former girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Todd Chance was shot twice in the chest. His body was found in an almond orchard near Highway 43 and Noriega Road.
Leslie Chance was principal of Fairview Elementary School at the time of the shooting.
Her attorney, Tony Lidgett, argued at trial the case against her was built on unreliable, circumstantial evidence, and she had nothing to do with her husband’s death.
It came to light at trial that Kavin Brewer, the lead detective on the case, failed to disclose to attorneys or log into evidence multiple interviews conducted in 2013. At least two of the interviews featured witnesses who told detectives they could not identify Chance in surveillance footage.
Appellate justices found the outcome of the trial would not have been different if the interviews had been provided to the defense.
