Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 13, 2006 16:26:02 GMT -5
Trial in Killing of Fla. Girl Is Moved
The trial of the sex offender charged with kidnapping, raping and killing
9-year-old Jessica Lunsford will be held in Miami, where officials hope it
will be easier to find a fair jury, Citrus County court officials said
Tuesday.
Jury selection for John Evander Couey's trial in Lake County was abandoned
in July after 3 days when it became clear that too many prospective jurors
had been exposed to media reports or other discussions of the case.
Circuit Judge Ric Howard had already moved jury selection to Tavares,
about 50 miles east of Citrus County's Homosassa, where Jessica lived and
was killed, because of publicity surrounding the case.
Jury selection is now set for Feb. 12 at the Gerstein Justice Center in
Miami, the court said. Miami is about 250 miles southeast of Homosassa.
Couey, 48, has pleaded not guilty to charges of 1st-degree murder, sexual
battery on a child, kidnapping and burglary in the girl's death.
Jessica's body was found about a month after she disappeared from her home
near where Couey had been living. Her hands had been tied with speaker
wire and her fingers poked through the garbage bags in which authorities
say she was buried alive.
The judge threw out Couey's taped confession because investigators ignored
Couey's requests to speak to an attorney during questioning. Prosecutors
say they are confident physical evidence and other statements Couey has
made will be enough to convict him and secure a death sentence.
Calls to attorneys and to Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, were not
immediately returned Tuesday.
(source: Associated Press)
The trial of the sex offender charged with kidnapping, raping and killing
9-year-old Jessica Lunsford will be held in Miami, where officials hope it
will be easier to find a fair jury, Citrus County court officials said
Tuesday.
Jury selection for John Evander Couey's trial in Lake County was abandoned
in July after 3 days when it became clear that too many prospective jurors
had been exposed to media reports or other discussions of the case.
Circuit Judge Ric Howard had already moved jury selection to Tavares,
about 50 miles east of Citrus County's Homosassa, where Jessica lived and
was killed, because of publicity surrounding the case.
Jury selection is now set for Feb. 12 at the Gerstein Justice Center in
Miami, the court said. Miami is about 250 miles southeast of Homosassa.
Couey, 48, has pleaded not guilty to charges of 1st-degree murder, sexual
battery on a child, kidnapping and burglary in the girl's death.
Jessica's body was found about a month after she disappeared from her home
near where Couey had been living. Her hands had been tied with speaker
wire and her fingers poked through the garbage bags in which authorities
say she was buried alive.
The judge threw out Couey's taped confession because investigators ignored
Couey's requests to speak to an attorney during questioning. Prosecutors
say they are confident physical evidence and other statements Couey has
made will be enough to convict him and secure a death sentence.
Calls to attorneys and to Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, were not
immediately returned Tuesday.
(source: Associated Press)