Testimony in Lisa Graham capital murder trial to start Feb. 23
Testimony in the capital murder trial of a Russell County woman accused of having her daughter killed won’t start until Feb. 23, attorneys decided Wednesday.
During a pretrial hearing for Lisa Graham, accused of having a family worker gun down her daughter Stephanie Shea Graham on July 5, 2007, attorneys agreed to begin selecting a jury on Tuesday, but to hold off on calling witnesses until the following Monday.
Russell County District Attorney Ken Davis said he has three witnesses who will have to take airline flights to be in Phenix City to testify, including one from California, and he needs time to ensure they’ll be on schedule.
Besides selecting a jury, attorneys next week may have a hearing on suppressing evidence against Graham.
Graham’s attorney Margaret Young Brown objected to holding another suppression hearing, arguing Russell County Judge George Greene ruled on that evidence during Graham’s first trial in 2012.
That trial was cut short when Greene declared a mistrial because of his failing health. Greene later retired before he died Jan. 1, 2014.
Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker III came in to preside over Graham’s retrial after other Russell County judges recused themselves. On Wednesday, Brown told Walker that Greene’s evidence ruling should stand.
Said Davis: “This is a new trial, and all issues are new for this trial.”
Greene’s ruling was “patently wrong,” he added.
Walker asked attorneys to file motions on that issue.
Davis also told the court prosecutors plan to introduce evidence Graham tried to bribe witness Kenneth Walton, the man accused of killing Graham’s daughter at the mother’s behest. Walton has agreed to testify.
Davis said Graham asked four Russell County jail inmates to slip Walton notes, one of which asked, “Would he take $10,000 to take me out of the equation?”
The trial could take weeks. Besides the time for selecting a jury and holding an evidence-suppression hearing, Davis said presenting the prosecution’s case could take seven to eight days, with testimony from 30 witnesses.
Brown said she thought Davis underestimated the time he would need.
Another trial issue is one over which the court has no control: the weather.
Brown’s co-counsel Robert Poole asked Walker about bad weather next week.
“I was hoping it would stay above 32 degrees,” the judge said. He said the court would act according to what local schools do, and delay the proceedings if the schools close because of bad weather.
According to Weather.com, an 80-percent chance of thunderstorms is expected Tuesday, with a high of 66 degrees and a low of 39. Wednesday’s weather is to be cloudy with a high of 48 degrees and a low of 26.
The Russell sheriff’s office launched the Graham homicide investigation after a newspaper carrier found 20-year-old Stephanie Shea Graham’s body on Bowden Road, between U.S. 431 and Alabama 165 near Pittsview. She had six bullet wounds in the head and torso, authorities said.
Investigators said Walton, the last person seen with her, confessed to the homicide, even acting it out for them. After pleading guilty June 14, 2012, Walton was sentenced to life in prison with possible parole.
Authorities allege Lisa Graham wanted her daughter dead because she was frustrated by Shea Graham’s drug use, and feared the daughter would jump bail on charges she faced in a drive-by shooting in Columbus. Shea Graham was due in court the morning her body was found, investigators said.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/...#storylink=cpy
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