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Judge won't delay Couey trial

The defense had hoped to push back the Feb. 12 start, after new evidence and potential key witnesses emerged recently.

By JOHN FRANK
Published January 25, 2007

INVERNESS - Attorneys for the man accused of killing Jessica Lunsford suffered a major setback Wednesday as a Citrus judge refused to delay the Feb. 12 trial, giving them about two weeks to investigate more than 1,000 pages of fresh evidence and rebut two new star witnesses.

During an emergency hearing, Circuit Judge Ric Howard decided the eleventh-hour revelation of more incriminating statements reportedly made by John Couey to jail guards would not "unduly affect the defense's ability to go to trial at this juncture."

To level the playing field, Howard appointed Charles Vaughn, an Inverness attorney and former public defender, as a third co-counsel to help the defense wade through the new material.

Assistant Public Defender Daniel Lewan said it would do little to help. "There is no way, even with Mr. Vaughn's help, that we can be prepared for trial," he said in a failed attempt to request a continuance for a second time.

The decision is a reversal of fortune for the defense after previously winning arguments that banned two admissions Couey made to kidnapping, raping and killing the 9-year-old Homosassa girl in February 2005.

It's a substantial gift for prosecutors, who acknowledged that the new testimony of jail guards John Read and Nathalia Winham - who reportedly heard Couey make incriminating statements - is critical to their case because they can't use the initial confession to Citrus County investigators and a subsequent one made to Orlando police detectives.

But the latest ruling won't end the scuffle over the potentially damning testimony. Defense attorneys plan to interview the guards and likely will file a motion to ban the statements. Howard said he is willing to hear the argument, saying, "I'm not afraid to suppress evidence I think is improper."

In court papers filed last week, the defense objected to allowing the remarks, the bulk of which were made to jail guards nearly a year ago but not disclosed until two days after Howard tossed out Couey's reported confession to the Orlando detectives.

Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said the prosecution received a phone call from an unidentified guard two days after Howard tossed out Couey's admission saying she overhead some of the guards talking about incriminating statements Couey made from his jail cell. As soon as they learned about it, they informed the defense, Ridgway said.

The defense questioned the timing and the policies at the jail, saying that the guards in question would play cards, drink coffee, read the Bible and watch television with Couey.

Julia Swart, the spokeswoman for the private company that runs the jail, declined to answer questions Wednesday about whether that conduct would violate jail policies, citing security concerns.

Lewan told Howard the new evidence would force the defense to remake its case, prompting the need to reinterview detectives, the medical examiner and their expert witnesses.

While the judge acknowledged a violation of evidence discovery rules, he agreed with the prosecution in saying that the delay was caused by "apathy" on the part of the guards.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 352 860-7312.

[Last modified January 24, 2007, 22:45:27]