GA - 2 corrections officers killed on bus, 2 inmates on run, Putnam Co., June 2017 *CAPTURED*

How long will trial backlog loom over Georgia, South Carolina?

In Georgia

On Sunday, Georgia Chief Justice Harold D. Melton extended for another month the statewide judicial emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It continues the suspension of jury trials but signals they could resume next month, noting that “the surge in COVID-19 cases that led to the suspension of jury trials appears now to be declining.

Assuming that conditions generally continue to improve, it is anticipated that the next extension order on March 9 will authorize superior and state courts, in their discretion, to resume jury trials as local conditions allow,” the order says.
 
Death penalty trial delayed in Georgia prison guard killings

"One of two Georgia prisoners accused of killing two guards had his death penalty trial delayed Monday after his lawyers raised concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Brenda Trammell granted the request from Donnie Rowe’s lawyers during a video hearing, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The trial that had been scheduled to start April 5 is now set for Aug. 30."
 
Trial set to begin for prisoner accused of killing guards

Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of one of two Georgia prisoners accused of killing two guards more than four years ago.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Donnie Rowe in the killings of Sgt. Christopher Monica and Sgt. Curtis Billue in June 2017. Rowe and Ricky Dubose are accused of using the guards' guns to shoot them while escaping from a prison transfer bus southeast of Atlanta. They were arrested in Tennessee a few days later.
 
Judge denies motion to delay in accused cop killer's death penalty trial

Jurors for Rowe's death penalty trial were selected in Grady County. The jurors will be transported to Putnam County for the trial and will be sequestered throughout the court proceedings.

Judge Brenda Trammel, who serves on the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit in Middle Georgia, read the charges on Rowe's indictment to the jury pool of 50 potential jurors Monday morning.

By 3:55 p.m. Monday, two potential jurors had been decided on for Rowe's death penalty trial.

Donnie Rowe and codefendant Ricky Dubose -- who's trial is currently set to begin on September 7 in Putnam County -- are being tried separately.
 
Death penalty trial jurors to be selected this morning

Once the trial jury and alternates have been selected, they will be dismissed until Sunday when they will be taken by bus from Cairo to Putnam County.

Opening statements are expected to start at 9 a.m. Monday in Putnam County Superior Court in Eatonton. Testimony will begin after attorneys on both sides spell out what they believe the evidence and facts of the case will prove.

Testimony could last up to three weeks, court officials say.

Dubose will be tried separately sometime next year.
 
Ricky DuBose is accused of killing two Putnam County prison guards almost 5 years ago. On Tuesday, he had a pretrial hearing where his legal team argued he has an intellectual disability that should take the death penalty off the table.

The defense and prosecution took turns examining experts and a witness about the state of Dubose's mental health. Defense argues Ricky Dubose exempt from death penalty | 13wmaz.com
 
Ricky DuBose is accused of killing two Putnam County prison guards almost 5 years ago. On Tuesday, he had a pretrial hearing where his legal team argued he has an intellectual disability that should take the death penalty off the table.

The defense and prosecution took turns examining experts and a witness about the state of Dubose's mental health. Defense argues Ricky Dubose exempt from death penalty | 13wmaz.com


Dubose's trial is scheduled for May in Eatonton.
 
 
 

"A Georgia prisoner died of apparent suicide after recently being sentenced to death for the killings of two corrections officers during an escape attempt five years ago, officers said.

Ricky Dubose, 29, was found by guards unresponsive in his prison cell at the Georgia and Classification Prison in Jackson on Sunday around 4.45 p.m., according to a Department of Corrections news release."
 

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