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Couey prosecutors decry any trial delay

By JOHN FRANK
Published January 24, 2007

INVERNESS - Prosecutors seeking the death penalty against John Couey said Tuesday that a defense request to exclude newly purported admissions made by the 48-year-old sex offender is an "extreme" remedy, and that a request to postpone the upcoming trial is merely a delay tactic.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard will hear attorneys' arguments on these two key elements today, just 20 days before Couey's trial is scheduled to begin in Miami.

Couey is accused of the 2005 kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford.

Last week, defense attorneys asked the judge to forbid the testimony of three Citrus County jail guards who say Couey made incriminating statements about Jessica's death.

Assistant Public Defender Daniel Lewan questioned the jail guards' timing, considering that most of the remarks at issue were made more than 10 months ago and they didn't come forward until Jan. 10 - two days after Howard threw out a jailhouse admission Couey made to Orlando police detectives.

Lewan asked for a delay in the Feb. 12 trial, saying that the new information will require "considerable investigation, research and additional discovery efforts."

But in Tuesday's court filing, Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway wrote that excluding evidence, even if it comes to light at the 11th hour, is a seldom-imposed sanction.

He also acknowledged that the evidence is critical to the state's case, especially after Howard banned remarks made to Orlando police and Couey's original confession to Citrus County sheriff's investigators. Previously, Ridgway said he was ready to go to trial without either statement.

Ridgway is asking the judge to order the defense to interview the new witnesses as soon as possible.

It's unclear whether Howard will rule on the motion today, but the decision will surely have a major effect on the case.

Already the trial was delayed for seven months when Howard declared a mistrial in July after failing to seat an unbiased jury after trying for 3 1/2 days.

If the new testimony from the guards is allowed at trial, it would compound statements Couey previously made to a jail employee in March 2006.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified January 23, 2007, 21:05:27]