Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 16:29:18 GMT -5
Howard County to host death penalty trial----Roxbury inmate accused of
killing corrections officer at hospital
The death-penalty trial of an inmate accused of killing a corrections
officer will be conducted in Howard County, a Washington County judge
ruled Monday.
Brandon T. Morris, 20, was indicted on 36 counts, including 3 1st-degree
murder charges, in the slaying in January of Jeffery A. Wroten.
Wroten, 44, of Martinsburg, W.Va., was guarding Morris' room at Washington
County Hospital when he was fatally shot in the head early in the morning
of Jan. 26. Morris, 20, was serving an eight-year sentence at the nearby
Roxbury Correctional Institution for assault, robbery and handgun
convictions in Baltimore. He had been admitted to the hospital the
previous day for observation after having a sewing needle removed from his
right side. Prosecutors contend the wound was self-inflicted.
After the shooting, Morris allegedly briefly took a visitor hostage and
then forced a cab driver to drive him at gunpoint on a police chase that
crossed into Pennsylvania and back before the driver crashed the car into
a concrete barrier 6 miles north of Hagerstown.
Morris had the right under Maryland law to have his case automatically
moved to another jurisdiction because he faces the death penalty if
convicted.
Washington County administrative Judge Frederick C. Wright III granted
Morris' request and set aside the Oct. 23 trial date that had been set for
Washington County.
Howard County Circuit Court Chief Deputy Clerk Wayne Robey told The
Herald-Mail of Hagerstown that when the court receives Morris' file,
administrative Judge Diane O. Leasure will assign a presiding judge and
set a status hearing or scheduling conference for the case.
Morris is being held the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center, known as
Supermax, in Baltimore. His lawyers had argued that pretrial publicity and
high county employment at the Maryland Division of Correction and the
Hospital would prevent Morris from getting a fair trial in Hagerstown.
There are no state prisons in Howard County, a Division of Correction
spokeswoman said.
(source: Associated Press)
killing corrections officer at hospital
The death-penalty trial of an inmate accused of killing a corrections
officer will be conducted in Howard County, a Washington County judge
ruled Monday.
Brandon T. Morris, 20, was indicted on 36 counts, including 3 1st-degree
murder charges, in the slaying in January of Jeffery A. Wroten.
Wroten, 44, of Martinsburg, W.Va., was guarding Morris' room at Washington
County Hospital when he was fatally shot in the head early in the morning
of Jan. 26. Morris, 20, was serving an eight-year sentence at the nearby
Roxbury Correctional Institution for assault, robbery and handgun
convictions in Baltimore. He had been admitted to the hospital the
previous day for observation after having a sewing needle removed from his
right side. Prosecutors contend the wound was self-inflicted.
After the shooting, Morris allegedly briefly took a visitor hostage and
then forced a cab driver to drive him at gunpoint on a police chase that
crossed into Pennsylvania and back before the driver crashed the car into
a concrete barrier 6 miles north of Hagerstown.
Morris had the right under Maryland law to have his case automatically
moved to another jurisdiction because he faces the death penalty if
convicted.
Washington County administrative Judge Frederick C. Wright III granted
Morris' request and set aside the Oct. 23 trial date that had been set for
Washington County.
Howard County Circuit Court Chief Deputy Clerk Wayne Robey told The
Herald-Mail of Hagerstown that when the court receives Morris' file,
administrative Judge Diane O. Leasure will assign a presiding judge and
set a status hearing or scheduling conference for the case.
Morris is being held the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center, known as
Supermax, in Baltimore. His lawyers had argued that pretrial publicity and
high county employment at the Maryland Division of Correction and the
Hospital would prevent Morris from getting a fair trial in Hagerstown.
There are no state prisons in Howard County, a Division of Correction
spokeswoman said.
(source: Associated Press)