EXCLUSIVE: Defense to ask for separate trials in Hillsborough murder case

HILLSBOROUGH, Calif. (KGO) -- ABC7 News has learned that attorneys for Tiffany Li will ask a judge to allow her to be tried separately from her co-defendant, Kaveh Bayat. Both had been scheduled to stand trial in August for the killing of Keith Green, the father of Li's two children.

Li's attorneys say an August trial will interfere with her treatments for breast cancer. They want to go to trial in the spring.

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Bayat's attorneys say they won't be ready to go to trial before August. A hearing on the case is scheduled for next Wednesday.

ABC7 News has also learned that Li's attorneys are challenging the legitimacy of the marriage of the key witness in the case.

The attorneys say that Olivier Adella's marriage to his current wife is invalid because he didn't divorce his previous wife. But Adella's attorney tells ABC7 that there is no merit to those claims and that he is confident the judge will decide in Adella's favor.

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The marriage has relevance in the case because of the protected status of conversations between a husband and wife. A spouse cannot be forced to testify against another spouse.

Adella had worked for Li and Bayat as a personal trainer and bodyguard. As part of a plea deal, he was charged with being an accessory after the fact for disposing of Green's body in Sonoma County after his killing nearly three years ago.

In an exclusive interview with ABC7 in 2017, Adella said Li and Bayat had offered him $50,000 to kill Green but he refused.

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But Li and Bayat showed up at his home with Green's body and demanded he dispose of it.

Adella said he agreed out of concern for his safety and the safety of his family. He said he was also concerned that if he didn't go along with the demand, the couple would find some way to pin the killing on him.

As part of his deal, Adella will have to testify against Li and Bayat. Presumably, if there are two trials, he will be required to testify twice.

Bayat has remained in jail since his arrest in 2016. Li was released on bail in 2017 after posting a record bail for San Mateo County, nearly $70 million in cash and property.

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