Does anyone know of another case where the original indictment was discarded in favor of a differently worded indictment? This development this late in the case worries me. I can't help but think this DA is having to play clean-up for Winters.
Does anyone know of another case where the original indictment was discarded in favor of a differently worded indictment? This development this late in the case worries me. I can't help but think this DA is having to play clean-up for Winters.
Does anyone know of another case where the original indictment was discarded in favor of a differently worded indictment? This development this late in the case worries me. I can't help but think this DA is having to play clean-up for Winters.
I don't like it either. I would be grateful for a legal analysis on this move.
http://www.macon.com/2013/10/29/274...-giddings.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop...Had the initial indictment stood until the scheduled January trial, McDaniel might have been acquitted by a directed verdict, said Franklin J. Hogue, one of McDaniels lawyers....
http://www.macon.com/2013/10/29/274...-giddings.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop...Cooke and Hogue said the new indictment should not affect plans for jury selection in the case to begin Jan. 6.
Both sides are ready to try this case, Cooke said....
Have they searched the private property yet? I hope that they have a good team including great dogs when they search.
Who are the "witnesses"? Would they be the people who last saw Lauren alive and the friends who searched for her before her torso was found?Sure haven't heard a thing about that, cocomod -- guess we (the public) are not likely to, until all is done, at least.
I do think that, if the schedule proposed in the last document we had from the civil case is being adhered to, some of the witnesses (is that the right term?) are to be deposed this month.
Who are the "witnesses"? Would they be the people who last saw Lauren alive and the friends who searched for her before her torso was found?
TIA
more at: http://www.13wmaz.com/news/topstori...-Doesnt-Object-to-Searching-Grandfathers-Farm
ETA: And... thanks very much, 13WMAZ, for providing a link to a pdf of the discovery document!!
http://www.13wmaz.com/assetpool/documents/130912034445_McDaniel Discovery Order.pdf
Just a friendly reminder, everyone. If discussing the witnesses, please remember, initials only.
:tyou:
And also this:...McDaniel and (TM) were in a campus production of a play called The Disciples.
(TM) played an overzealous Christian guy and McDaniel was a gay, Jewish psychology major who was just really confused, (TM) said.
(TM) had, at the time, been bitter about missing out on becoming a pilot. McDaniel cheered him up by encouraging him to try acting.
He helped me through a lot. ... He gave me an outlet that I needed badly, (TM) said, and I really appreciate him for that.
(TM) said he knew that going to the police with what he said he knows about McDaniel was the right thing to do. ...
both quotes and more at: http://www.macon.com/2011/08/30/1682872/ex-roommate-saw-2-sides-of-mcdaniel.html...One of (TM's) former Mercer professors got in touch with him in early July.
Stephen Mark McDaniel had been named by police as a person of interest in the killing and dismemberment of Lauren Giddings....
from: http://phronesis.mercer.edu/...This commitment to transformative education has been forged by several key events in Mercers past. These include a heresy trial conducted in 1939 when thirteen students, led by John Birch accused professors in Christianity and other departments of teaching ideas that contradicted Baptist beliefs in the Bible and creation. Although all professors were cleared of charges, this event has come to be a key part of Mercers lore and self-identity. The trial is chronicled today in the Mercer Reader (1st ed), pp. 511-524. It has also been dramatized by Mercer Professor (Dr. AS) in an unpublished play from 2007, The Disciples. ...
(He) has written two plays, Combustible/Burn and The Disciples, both of which have been produced and staged at Mercer's Backdoor Theatre.
more at: http://departments.mercer.edu/english/faculty_staff.html
So Dr. A.S. wrote the play in which TM and SM performed and likely was involved in its production, perhaps even directed it.
Back when macon.com was still being really nice and sharing documents with us, the first set of the defense pre-trial motions posted here ...
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/540762-mcdaniel-defense-motions-351-pages.html#wgt=rcntnews
...reveals, on page 148 of the document at the link, that TM had additional things to say about SM's performance in the play and how he saw it connecting up with the interview SM gave Macon media outlets the day Lauren's torso was discovered. From an LE affidavit referenced and reproduced within one of the motions, here is what TM reportedly said:
...When I heard the news about the murder in Macon and heard that Stephen was somehow involved I watched the interviews he gave to the news media at the scene. While watching one particular interview it struck me that Stephen's tone of voice, demeanor, and hand movements were not Stephen's normal mannerisms but instead nearly mirrored dialogue which he gave during a theater performance when we were both undergraduates at Mercer University.
I also recalled when seeing this he informed me that he had no interest in the theater but wanted to test himself to see if he was believable when telling a story....
So, I'm thinking that perhaps Dr. A.S. is on the list to lend some sort of support to theories along that line.
from: http://media.macon.com/smedia/2013/06/18/17/40/JLYDh.So.71.pdf#storylink=relastA thumb drive of pictures of Lauren Giddings that was stolen from her apartment by McDaniel prior to her murder was found in McDaniels apartment.
It looks like I'm playing catch up again. Thanks for keeping us up to date, BW. I'm not finished reading all of the articles about the hearings yet because the issue of whether McD's apartment was properly guarded and/or sealed made me curious enough to do a little review. This is what I've come across so far.
I believe there's close up of that posting on McD's door somewhere.
July 5, 2011
http://www.macon.com/2012/06/20/2064906/a-look-at-the-lauren-giddings.html
This snip is from a Telegraph article dated July 14, 2011.
From the same article, this talks about the vacant downstairs apartment. If that apartment was sealed, surely McD's was, too.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2011/07/14/163...om-apartment.html#ixzz1S3AqCFRw#storylink=cpy
July 13, 2011 -- The video of the night search. At about 1:20 in the video we see a detective appear to punch numbers into a keypad next to the front door right before they close up.
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/article/135428/175/Investigators-at-Giddings-Apartment-Complex
http://www.macon.com/2013/09/17/2669379/mcdaniel-hearings-conclude-will.html...Hogue also asked Newberry to review photos taken of the apartments July 3 to see if he saw a “Do not enter” sticker on McDaniel’s door, preserving the apartment for future searches....
Phil Brown, Bibb chief judge, set to retire at the end of 2013
Phil Brown, Bibb Countys chief Superior Court judge, will retire at years end. ...
...Brown, who has presided over pretrial hearings in the murder case against Stephen McDaniel in the Lauren Giddings slaying, cited his age as part of his reason for leaving the bench....
...Brown said he would continue to preside over hearings set for next week in the McDaniel case, but that another judge will be assigned before the trial.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Jan. 6, but that will probably be pushed back...
...No decision has been made about which judge will be assigned to the McDaniel case, but the trial will likely be handled by judges Tripp Self or Howard Simms, or possibly a specially appointed judge from outside the Macon Judicial Circuit....
...You just kind of look for a break in the action and say, you know, If Im gonna jump out of this plane, this is my chance, (Judge Brown) said.
With my age and, you know, I dont want to say more than I should, but its just time.
Asked if there was anything else he could share about his retirement decision, Brown said, Maybe one day. Its not anything that Id be embarrassed by. I just dont want anybody to say anything but (that) Ive had good experience here.
You know, it didnt seem like the plane was gonna come down to a quick, smooth landing right away, and I just wanted to say, you know, fine, let cases take ... their course and meanwhile Ill leave it to some of these younger (judges) that know more or better than me. ...
read more at: http://www.macon.com/2013/11/13/2772445/new-judge-assigned-to-mcdaniel.htmlNew judge assigned to McDaniel murder case
Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Simms will preside over Stephen McDaniels upcoming murder trial. ...
...Brown had said Tuesday that he would preside over pretrial motions hearings in the case scheduled for next week, but word Wednesday was that those proceedings will be postponed and heard by Simms. ...
...Floyd Buford, who has represented McDaniel since his arrest in the summer of 2011, less than two months after McDaniel graduated from law school, was disappointed to hear about Browns retirement....
...Buford said Brown had worked extremely hard on the case.
But I have utmost confidence in Judge Simms, Buford said, and I know that he will get up to speed quickly. ...
...Buford did meet with McDaniel last week at the Bibb jail, where McDaniel has awaited trial for 28 months -- through two district attorneys, a rescinded death penalty prosecution and now two judges.
Hes an amazing and unique young man, Buford said. Ive gotten to know him very well....
Judge Simms will now handle the case.
http://www.macon.com/2013/11/13/2772445/new-judge-assigned-to-mcdaniel.html
https://www.facebook.com/LaurenTeresaGiddings
What the heck is that about? ?
Didn't Judge Brown have health issues earlier this year? I seem to remember something with his heart.
Bibb County Superior Court Judge Phil Brown is making preparations to undergo heart surgery, meaning he will be away from the bench for several weeks....