Ultimately, defense attorney Ken Mahaffey maintained that, “These violations add up.” Prosecutor Bryan Case, while conceding that there was “a little misconduct here and here and here…” maintained that the errors weren’t necessarily material and must be evaluated separately.
After the hearing, Mahaffey declined to answer reporters’ questions, citing ethical concerns. Then Loren and Carol Hall spoke to reporters. Loren said, “We know our daughter’s innocent.” He said they had visited Laura last night and that “she’s not doing real well…” but that she’s holding up as well as possible “when you know you’re innocent.”
Loren also said that his daughter was having dental problems and had been taking antibiotics for eight months. When asked her opinion of today’s hearing, Carol said, “It went well.” She also said the prosecution will do anything to win.
After the Halls left, reporters talked to Sharon Cave and her fiancé Jim Sedwick, who appeared confident. Sharon said, “Colton got his due. Laura got her due.” She said that Laura could have chosen to "do the right thing" so Jennifer's body wouldn't have been mutilated and that Laura is “obviously mentally incapacitated.” Sharon expressed concern for herself and her family’s safety when Laura gets out.
Case also answered reporters’ questions. He said he considered the state’s errors “insignificant…some technical” and that there was “no injustice in this case.”
I didn’t see any prosecutors or defense lawyers from the original trial at today’s hearing, which I found a little curious because they were present for oral arguments in Pitonyak’s appeal.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
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4 comments:
Bill Bishop was in court and Stephanie McFarland is in a new position. We did meet with them on Tuesday evening. Leah Smith, our Victim's counselor was there with us.
Thanks for the clarification. I saw Leah Smith but had forgotten her name--sorry.
I watched the entire trial and I am now reading Kathyrn Casey's book on the case (just started reading).
Laura Hall is VERY lucky she got the sentence that she got, IMO. Is there anyway -- if her lawyers get the case overturned -- she could end up getting more prison time? That would be great.
It reminds me of another Texas murderer, Kent McGowan, who won an appeal on a murder charge..only to get retried and a harsher sentence bestowed on him. Awwww, That would be grand.
I have your page bookmarked, I will check back. Thanks for keeping up with it all.
I'm certainly not a lawyer, but in a nutshell, I think the answer is basically yes: Hall could risk receiving a harsher sentence if found guilty at a new trial.
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