Murder trial set to begin in Boone
by Kellen Moore and Anna Oakes
UPDATE: As of Monday, Feb. 6
The capital murder trial of John Richard Gray was continued Monday for one month while the defendant undergoes a psychiatric evaluation in Butner.
Gray, 31, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon following the 2008 death of a Boone pawn shop clerk.
District Attorney Jerry Wilson said Gray arrived at Central Regional Hospital on Monday, more than one month after Gray was ordered to submit to a mental health evaluation. Wilson said in court that the hospital could not see Gray earlier than Feb. 6 and requested that he not be sent before then.
Judge James Downs granted the motion to continue the case until March 5 despite expressing frustration at the delay and threatening to revoke the mental evaluation order.
“Well, I'm about to revoke that order and get him back,” Downs said. “There's no reason to keep him.”
Gray's court-appointed attorneys, Jeff Hedrick and Scott Casey, indicated in July 2011 that they intended to use a defense of mental infirmity, if available, and others. Downs ordered Gray on Dec. 27, 2011, to submit to the evaluation, according to court documents.
Casey said Monday that the hospital could need up to six weeks to generate the evaluation report.
“We were prepared for trial; we would like to be more prepared,” Casey said, to which Downs replied that the defense has had three years to prepare.
Hedrick added that one of the defense's witnesses, Dr. George Corvin of North Raleigh Psychiatry, also was occupied with another capital case in Winston-Salem.
Wilson called the delays a “typical defense tactic.”
Downs set the trial date for March 5 and ordered that Gray return to Watauga County in two weeks, when additional pretrial motions are expected to be heard.
Once the case begins, it will likely take four to six weeks to complete.
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As of Sunday, Feb. 5:
A capital murder trial is set to begin this week in Boone for John Richard Gray, the man accused of killing a local pawn shop clerk in 2008.
The case could be continued if a mental health evaluation of Gray requested in late 2011 is not yet complete.
Gray, 31, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon in connection with the Dec. 22, 2008, death of Jimmy Dale Roberts.
Roberts, 40, was found dead of a gunshot wound at the Gold and Closeout Connection pawn shop on King Street on Dec. 22, 2008. Police officers found Roberts in the store at about 8:30 p.m. after his family reported that he had not returned home from work.
Roberts' 2005 Chevrolet Silverado and items from the business also were missing.
Two days later, Gray was located in Mendota, Ill., trying to sell guns out of a pickup truck in a gas station parking lot, according to police reports. He fled on foot when police arrived, but a search showed that the truck belonged to Roberts.
Gray was arrested Dec. 25, 2008, after a seven-hour standoff with police at a hotel in Rochelle, Ill., about 30 miles north of Mendota.
Gray could face the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors stated in December 2011 that they intend to prove several aggravating factors, including that the offense was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, that the defendant committed the offense while on pretrial release from another charge and that the defendant took advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offense.
Gray is represented by court-appointed attorneys Jeff Hedrick and Scott Casey.
His attorneys noted in July 2011 that they intend to use defenses of mental infirmity and self-defense, if available, and of accident, according to court documents.
Gray was ordered to submit to a forensic mental health evaluation in late December 2011. It's unclear whether that has been completed.
In preparation for the trial, 400 potential jurors were ordered to report this week to court. Prosecutors expect that the case could take four to six weeks to complete.
http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/News...oone-id-006916
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