Saturday, February 20, 2010
Putnam Judge Considering Motion
WEST VIRGINIA....
After reviewing a second request for a retrial from Michael Merrifield Friday, Putnam County Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers announced he will present an opinion March 5th. Michael Merrifield was convicted in 2008 of killing and sexually abusing his girlfriend's 2-year-old-son, Logan Goodall. The motion was filed on grounds that Merrifield was not present when the original jury pool of about 100 people filled out a questionnaire to weed out potential bias, and he was not part of a telephone conversation with then Circuit Judge Ed Eagloski to put together that questionnaire. Lonnie Simmons, Merrifield's court appointed attorney for the appeal, argues the questionnaires were a critical stage in the trial and in determining Merrifield's case was presented to a fair jury, and Merrifield should have been given the opportunity to evaluate the panel and provide his input.
After reviewing a second request for a retrial from Michael Merrifield Friday, Putnam County Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers announced he will present an opinion March 5th. Michael Merrifield was convicted in 2008 of killing and sexually abusing his girlfriend's 2-year-old-son, Logan Goodall. The motion was filed on grounds that Merrifield was not present when the original jury pool of about 100 people filled out a questionnaire to weed out potential bias, and he was not part of a telephone conversation with then Circuit Judge Ed Eagloski to put together that questionnaire. Lonnie Simmons, Merrifield's court appointed attorney for the appeal, argues the questionnaires were a critical stage in the trial and in determining Merrifield's case was presented to a fair jury, and Merrifield should have been given the opportunity to evaluate the panel and provide his input.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 4:58 AM 
