Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 16, 2006 12:10:28 GMT -5
Mistrial declared in Clarendon County death penalty case
Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty again against a man whose capital murder trial this week ended in a mistrial.
Anthony Woods, 42, is charged with killing and raping a 53-year-old schoolteacher in the bedroom of her Manning home three years ago.
Jurors, selected from Marion County because of pretrial publicity, deliberated his guilt for about two days before Circuit Judge John C. Few declared a mistrial Thursday night.
JoAnn DuBose was found dead with a sheet or pillow case wrapped around her neck in June 2003. DNA found on her sheets matched Woods, prosecutors said.
The defense called no witnesses, but did argue the DNA evidence and items collected during a search warrant shouldn't be shown to the jury because they were improperly obtained. The judge rejected those requests.
Woods will be tried again and the state will seek the death penalty, prosecutor Kelly Jackson said.
"From the prospective of trial strategy and how we approach the case, this was a dry rehearsal," Jackson said. "This gives us the opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our case and how to proceed in the near future."
The mistrial left defense attorneys disappointed too. "This was a difficult case," lawyer Jim Hoffmeyer said. "Everyone tried hard. The jury tried hard. They just couldn't make a decision."
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Information from: The Item, www.theitem.com
Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty again against a man whose capital murder trial this week ended in a mistrial.
Anthony Woods, 42, is charged with killing and raping a 53-year-old schoolteacher in the bedroom of her Manning home three years ago.
Jurors, selected from Marion County because of pretrial publicity, deliberated his guilt for about two days before Circuit Judge John C. Few declared a mistrial Thursday night.
JoAnn DuBose was found dead with a sheet or pillow case wrapped around her neck in June 2003. DNA found on her sheets matched Woods, prosecutors said.
The defense called no witnesses, but did argue the DNA evidence and items collected during a search warrant shouldn't be shown to the jury because they were improperly obtained. The judge rejected those requests.
Woods will be tried again and the state will seek the death penalty, prosecutor Kelly Jackson said.
"From the prospective of trial strategy and how we approach the case, this was a dry rehearsal," Jackson said. "This gives us the opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our case and how to proceed in the near future."
The mistrial left defense attorneys disappointed too. "This was a difficult case," lawyer Jim Hoffmeyer said. "Everyone tried hard. The jury tried hard. They just couldn't make a decision."
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Information from: The Item, www.theitem.com