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Murder suspect asks for trial delay
By CHASE SQUIRES
© St. Petersburg Times, DADE CITY -- Facing a June 25 murder trial, Jonathan Dye Jones and his lawyer asked Tuesday to have Jones' trial delayed while more than 70 potential witnesses are questioned. Appointed defense attorney Sam Williams told Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson that with Jones, 34, out of jail on bail, there was no rush to head into trial without time to prepare. Jones, dressed in jeans, a western-style shirt and cowboy boots, told Swanson he was willing to waive his right to a speedy trial to give Williams time to track down witnesses. "I really don't understand what's going on, but I'll let him do it," Jones said. In an unusual twist, Williams said prosecutor Phil Van Allen forwarded a letter to him from Faunce Pearce, a suspect in an unrelated high-profile murder case. In the letter, Van Allen said, Pearce wrote he had heard statements around the Pasco County jail that would help prosecute Jones. Williams said he had to advise Jones that at one time he represented Pearce, although the two parted last year. Jones said he did not object or want a new lawyer. Pearce's letter to Van Allen is the second time this spring he has tried to intervene in a murder case other than his own. Pearce, 39, is charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty himself if convicted of the September 1999 murder of 17-year-old Robert Crawford in what authorities have described as a botched drug deal. Lawrence Joey Smith, 23, was convicted last month of shooting Crawford to death. Authorities say Pearce was present and equally responsible. Swanson is scheduled to hear arguments July 13 on whether Smith should get the death penalty. A jury has already recommended death. Pearce, scheduled for trial July 16, wrote a letter to the judge last month urging him to impose the death penalty on Smith. Van Allen told the judge Tuesday he did not expect to use Pearce's testimony in Jones' case. The letter was not presented in court Tuesday and has not been entered into his court file. Jones was arrested Jan. 8 and charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say he shot Florention Cano, 47, to death in a robbery scam that led to gunfire in Dade City. Investigators say Jones was working with prostitutes when they concocted a scheme for the women to have sex with Cano and then rob him. Jones has pleaded innocent. He is free on $110,500 bail while he awaits trial.
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