Flowers Motions For New Trial
Amanda Sexton
Winona Times
07.08.10 - 10:19 am
WINONA - Counsel for Curtis Flowers filed a motion with the Montgomery County Circuit Court requesting a new trial.
In a motion filed on June 28, 2010, counsel for Flowers requests Judge Joseph H. Loper, Jr., to throw out the jury's guilty verdict handed down last month due to lack of evidence or throw out the verdict and order a new trial based on errors made by the court.
Loper will consider the motion and hand down his ruling at a later date.
In his sixth capital murder trial, Flowers was found guilty last month of killing Bertha Tardy, Carmen Rigby, Robert Golden and Derrick "BoBo" Stewart in Tardy Furniture on July 16, 1996. The jury sentenced Flowers to death for the crimes.
The 13 page motion is supported by 46 arguments as to why Loper should rule in favor of the defense and vacate the verdict or order a new trial, many reiterating motions made during the trial.
However, new arguments stating that Flowers did not receive a fair trial because jury members had "pre-existing opinions of guilt, innocence" due to personal connections with the victims' families. The motion states that Loper should have quashed the entire jury pool following individual juror questioning, and in not doing so, Flowers' right to a trial by a fair and impartial jury was violated.
In addition, the motion states that Flowers should have been granted a continuance and released on bond or released and re-indicted later until "community sentiment that prevented obtaining a jury pool unaffected by actual and implied bias had abated." The motion cites the case of Byron DeLa Beckwith in which the defendant was retried and convicted 30 years after he killed Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
The motion cites the jury's deliberation time stating that "the jury returned a guilty verdict after only 28 minutes indicates that the jurors had already made up their minds…..tainted by external influences."
The motion cited the court's interruption of mitigating testimony during the penalty phase of the trial to allow the jurors to eat, and claims that the court relinquished "control of the courtroom to the jury by allowing them to decide to continue proceedings late into the night…."
Alison Steiner, counsel for the defense, or District Attorney Doug Evans did not immediately return calls before press time. A motion for the court to hear oral arguments on this motion had not been filed in the Circuit Clerk’s office as of press time.
The 13 page motion is supported by 46 arguments as to why Loper should rule in favor of the defense and vacate the verdict or order a new trial, many reiterating motions made during the trial.
However, new arguments stating that Flowers did not receive a fair trial because juror members had "pre-existing opinions of guilt, innocence" due to personal connections with the victims' families. The motion states that Loper should have quashed the entire jury pool following individual juror questioning, and in not doing so, Flowers' rights to a trial by a fair and impartial jury was violated.
In addition, the motion states that Flowers should have been granted a continuance and released on bond or released and re-indicted later until "community sentiment that prevented obtaining a jury pool unaffected by actual and implied bias had abated." The motion sites the case of Byron DeLa Beckwith in which the defendant was retried and convicted 30 years after he killed Mississippi civil rights leader Medger Evers.
The motion sites the jury's deliberation time stating that "the jury returned a guilty verdict after only 28 minutes indicates that the jurors had already made up their minds…..tainted by external influences."
The motion sited the court's interruption of mitigating testimony during the penalty phase of the trial to allow the jurors to eat, and claims that the court relinquished "control of the courtroom to the jury by allowing them to decide to continue proceedings late into the night…."
Alison Steiner, counsel for the defense, or District Attorney Doug Evans did not immediately return calls before press time. A motion for the court to hear oral arguments on this motion had not been filed in the Circuit Court's office as of press time.
***W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Special: The Persecution Of Curtis Flowers***
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