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Defense lawyers will get another hearing in the case involving the slaying of 9-year-old Sharra Ferger.
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2002
DADE CITY -- Trial for two men held in the 1997 murder of 9-year-old Sharra Ferger remains months away after attorneys for the two requested another pretrial hearing in December before setting a trial date.
The appointed attorneys for Gary Cochran, 36, and Gary Steven Cannon, 21, told a judge Wednesday that they still are questioning witnesses and might have to contact out-of-state experts to aid in the case.
The two suspects are charged with first-degree murder in the October 1997 abduction. Sharra was taken from her Blanton home in the middle of the night and found the next day in a nearby field. She had been sexually assaulted, stabbed and bitten.
Attorneys said many witnesses listed by the state must be tracked down and questioned. Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb agreed to set the next pretrial hearing for Dec. 11.
Cannon and Cochran, both serving prison terms for unrelated crimes, were not at Wednesday's hearing.