Found Deceased NC - Mariah Woods, 3, Onslow County, 27 Nov 2017 #9 *Arrest*

[Leader6518]

Any legal guesses as to why Earl was continued to April? Plea deal discussions in the works? He can't sit that long on the charges he has can he? I mean legally?

My guess would be the DA and his lawyer need more time. I don’t think they have all the analysis of collected items yet.


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[sloothseeker]

With regards to EK hitting a minor in the nose hard enough to bleed during the same time frame as Mariah's "disappearance," i'm wondering why there was not an assault charge included in arrest warrant.

 

[MsMarple]

From The Daily News - Jacksonville:

A probable cause hearing was scheduled for Onslow County District Court Monday morning. His case was not heard and was calendared for April 2, 2018. Probable cause hearings are scheduled after a defendant’s first appearance and used as a “place holding” in the calendar to see if there is sufficient evidence to proceed, according to District Attorney Ernie Lee.

Lee said between now and Apr. 2, there are three grand juries scheduled to convene and Lee hopes to place this case before one of those bodies.

“I want to keep this case moving forward,” Lee said.

http://www.jdnews.com/news/20171218/hearing-continued-in-mariah-woods-disappearance

Is it possible the DA is waiting for a Grand Jury indictment before changing or upping the charges? Where's Gitana??

 

[Tortoise]

I'm not feeling that they're confident.

 

[nyvictoria]

From The Daily News - Jacksonville:

A probable cause hearing was scheduled for Onslow County District Court Monday morning. His case was not heard and was calendared for April 2, 2018. Probable cause hearings are scheduled after a defendant’s first appearance and used as a “place holding” in the calendar to see if there is sufficient evidence to proceed, according to District Attorney Ernie Lee.

Lee said between now and Apr. 2, there are three grand juries scheduled to convene and Lee hopes to place this case before one of those bodies.

“I want to keep this case moving forward,” Lee said.

http://www.jdnews.com/news/20171218/hearing-continued-in-mariah-woods-disappearance

Is it possible the DA is waiting for a Grand Jury indictment before changing or upping the charges? Where's Gitana??

I think that's a very good possibility.


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[cvaldez1975]

no news I see

 

[Tippy Lynn]

With regards to EK hitting a minor in the nose hard enough to bleed during the same time frame as Mariah's "disappearance," i'm wondering why there was not an assault charge included in arrest warrant.

Is this fact or is this what AW said?

 

[gitana1]

Any legal guesses as to why Earl was continued to April? Plea deal discussions in the works? He can't sit that long on the charges he has can he? I mean legally?

If he waives time he can.

 

[gitana1]

I personally think he is innocent of murdering her. Simply because they have not charged him yet. I feel like he confessed as to what happened, and it is a plausible explanation. More and more it is pointing to neither of the adults being guilty of the crime. Their stories must be matching up for them not to have charged mom with ANYTHING at this point.

Please don't insinuate a child is to blame. They haven't charged him because they have him where they want him. In jail. They are in no hurry with murder charges.

Furthermore, this delay in serious charges is not abnormal in these kinds of cases. Especially when they can charge the person with something less serious but keep them in jail.

Finally, as they stated, they have three grand jury proceedings scheduled and that is probably how they do things when they can in this state: Send it to the grand jury and let the grand jury make the decision to indict.

Have patience.

 

[MsMarple]

If he waives time he can.

Hi Gitana! :seeya: Any guesses as to why both sides agreed to the delay of the probable cause hearing? One article mentioned that between now and April 2 three Grand Juries are scheduled to convene. Could that be connected to the delay? All previous msm articles stated that the autopsy report should be completed by today, although I don't know if that included any tox reports.

It's frustrating but IMO all we know right now is that the 911 call is sealed and EK's warrant for obstruction and concealing a body is still holding and there's no hearing scheduled to reduce his bond. IMO that means someone told something to LE but what that was, well, we just don't know.

Any thoughts from you would be appreciated!

http://www.jdnews.com/news/20171218/hearing-continued-in-mariah-woods-disappearance

ETA: You posted while I was typing. Thanks! So do you think the DA is looking to see what the GJ thinks?

 

[gitana1]

Hi Gitana! :seeya: Any guesses as to why both sides agreed to the delay of the probable cause hearing? One article mentioned that between now and April 2 three Grand Juries are scheduled to convene. Could that be connected to the delay? All previous msm articles stated that the autopsy report should be completed by today, although I don't know if that included any tox reports.

It's frustrating but IMO all we know right now is that the 911 call is sealed and EK's warrant for obstruction and concealing a body is still holding and there's no hearing scheduled to reduce his bond. IMO that means someone told something to LE but what that was, well, we just don't know.

Any thoughts from you would be appreciated!

http://www.jdnews.com/news/20171218/hearing-continued-in-mariah-woods-disappearance

ETA: You posted while I was typing. Thanks! So do you think the DA is looking to see what the GJ thinks?

I think the prosecution always wants every chance to delay. More time, more evidence more prep.

The defense maybe wants to see what evidence they have for the GJ. Or they're just not prepared and also want more time.

 

[Amonet]

Is this fact or is this what AW said?

It was in the CPS report that was leaked to the media, the one from after Mariah's disappearance. So it's not from AW. The report seemed to be based on talking to the boys themselves about their home life and the timeframe of Mariah's disappearance.

 

[MsFacetious]

Sorry, gotta piggy back off this post. I was right, court doesn't start until 9:00AM. I checked the court calender and there are A LOT of people ahead of EK. In fact, EK is the listed as the 88th case to be heard. There was nothing on the court calender charge wise that has changed, still all the same charges.

Hope this helps.

I do not know how it's done in NC... however in a couple of other states this is how it's done. (Paralegal intern.)

There will be dozens of cases listed at a certain time. Even 4 trials for one judge on the same day. This is done because most of those will be canceled due to pleas or rescheduled due to continuances.

That way if cancellations happen, the judge is not left with no cases to hear. If for example 2 trials do make it all the way to day one, incarcerated defendants get first priority. If there is more than one incarcerated, the one with the oldest case gets priority and the other gets bumped.

For the shorter hearings, cattle call style.... the incarcerated defendants are back in a holding area. Other defendants will be in the courtroom, in the hallway, meeting with lawyers. The waiting lawyers are in the courtroom.

When both defense and prosecution are present, one lawyer will have the judge call their case. So your 2pm hearing may occur at 2pm or 4:30pm. The order in which you are listed really has very little bearing on when it is called. It's more when everyone is present.

It can be extremely annoying and cause cases to be pushed back when most all the cases do happen as scheduled though. :scared:

I think the prosecution always wants every chance to delay. More time, more evidence more prep.

The defense maybe wants to see what evidence they have for the GJ. Or they're just not prepared and also want more time.

Generally the defense is the one who benefits from a delay.
Time is on the side of the defense as they say.
However in this case I don't think either side suffers from it.

I've helped on a couple of cases where the defense pushed to go to trial ASAP and refused to waive their right to a speedy trial. One false allegation of child rape went to day one of trial in 60 days! Dismissed at jury selection due to the accuser telling the truth when prepped to testify.

I've seen the prosecution delay when they knew they had a weak case, a missing alleged victim or some other major issue with their case. Where the defense was ready but the prosecution kept stalling.

It's just as infuriating for the defendant to have delay after delay! Especially if they are innocent AND in custody.

Once the case is pushed forward and the prosecution's back is up against a wall they admit it (accuser recanted, we can't locate accuser, we have a problem with a witness...) and dismiss the charges. A few times this has happened on the first day of trial.

I think that he can if no one can go his bond/bail. If found guilty, his time served will count toward his sentence. If found not guilty, well, too bad, so sad.

This hit a nerve with me.

I do wish we had a better system. Now that I'm working more closely within it, I see it's huge flaws.
This is a large flaw our system has. Someone can be held without bail or just unable to pay bail for years.

Obviously when they are guilty this isn't a problem.
When they are innocent and then exonerated however, it's quite devastating.

Yes, they are grateful they've been acquitted or cleared.
Yes they are grateful to have their freedom again.
However, nothing can get them back those years.
The salaries they missed, the years of their children's lives, the funerals, weddings, births and other events that they missed out on.

I don't have the answers but I sure wish there was one.
A safe and widely accepted truth serum would be amazing.
Someone claims innocence "okay, drink this and we will release you."
I know it's totally not practical... but after seeing the devastation false charges bring... I wish it was. :tantrum:

 

[nostoneunturned]

I see no honor in this man..nothing in his character leads me to believe he didn't kill her..anyone who could take her lifeless body and place in in the cold water and go steal some dressers just for kicks and then go home and act like nothing happened. If the mother had no idea,Can you imagine the pandamonium in that house? If the boys knew he had SA her and she is missing wouldn't they be like"Mommy he did it."I believe the truth is yet to be told,there is more to this,,if another child harmed this little girl would you dispose of her body like this? No you would call it a"horrible accident" and call the police..I believe the mother knew because it was her father that said" they will never find her where they are looking..they need to be looking in the creek that they found her in.If he knew this who told him ? and why didn't he tell authorities? It was AW's wife that told this..am I right?

 

[Zelda1010]

Are the leaked documents completely gone from all of the sites, or am I just not looking hard enough.

I'm asking because I saw them originally. It seems there were several kinds of docs.

The hand written ones by AW, or scribed for AW, looked like his unsubstantiated rebuttals to a previous custody ruling. I took these with a huge side of salt (right, not a grain, a whole side, divorce/custody gets ugly)

There were a couple of police reports too, iirc.

Were there also docs from the department itself outlining the current allegations? Is this where the bloody nose allegation came from? They, too, would be unsubstantiated at this point in the process, but that type of doc would be compiled from statements from all parties the case worker interviewed. That would lead me to believe the nose bleed did, in fact, happen, but I can't find them too see for myself.

I've seen others ask, and I knew at least one site removed the docs. I guess I didn't pay enough attention. Anyone got 'em to share?

 

[RAISINISBACK]

Please don't insinuate a child is to blame. They haven't charged him because they have him where they want him. In jail. They are in no hurry with murder charges.

Furthermore, this delay in serious charges is not abnormal in these kinds of cases. Especially when they can charge the person with something less serious but keep them in jail.

Finally, as they stated, they have three grand jury proceedings scheduled and that is probably how they do things when they can in this state: Send it to the grand jury and let the grand jury make the decision to indict.

Have patience.

BBM

There are many ways that child could have died.

I don't think anyone is insinuating a child is to blame, but rather that Mariah's death may have been accidental. I too think that because there has been no murder charges filed that neither EK or KW intentionally killed her. Them perhaps being negligent in her death is another story altogether.

I don't know how it is done in other states, but here they usually slap you with the highest possible charge and then lower it to something else if they don't have the evidence to follow through. For example if they thought EK was culpable in her death they would have charged him with 1st degree murder the day he was arrested, then as evidence did not follow through lower it to manslaughter, or dismiss the charges entirely. Very rarely do they convene a grand jury.

The fact that EK was not charged with murder right off indicates to me that LE was not sure the child died as a result of intentional harm. And since there is still no murder charge after the autopsy was done makes me think that the evidence just does not support a clear cut case of intentional murder. Negligence by one or both of them in her death could perhaps be argued but as neither have yet been charged with that I am not willing at this time to say that is true.

We have not seen an autopsy report yet nor has a COD been named and we do not know what injuries or lack thereof that LE or the coroner saw when they found her body. So let's not jump to rash conclusions and break out the hanging rope just yet.

 

[JaneEyre]

BBM

There are many ways that child could have died.

I don't think anyone is insinuating a child is to blame, but rather that Mariah's death may have been accidental. I too think that because there has been no murder charges filed that neither EK or KW intentionally killed her. Them perhaps being negligent in her death is another story altogether.

I don't know how it is done in other states, but here they usually slap you with the highest possible charge and then lower it to something else if they don't have the evidence to follow through. For example if they thought EK was culpable in her death they would have charged him with 1st degree murder the day he was arrested, then as evidence did not follow through lower it to manslaughter, or dismiss the charges entirely. Very rarely do they convene a grand jury.

The fact that EK was not charged with murder right off indicates to me that LE was not sure the child died as a result of intentional harm. And since there is still no murder charge after the autopsy was done makes me think that the evidence just does not support a clear cut case of intentional murder. Negligence by one or both of them in her death could perhaps be argued but as neither have yet been charged with that I am not willing at this time to say that is true.

We have not seen an autopsy report yet nor has a COD been named and we do not know what injuries or lack thereof that LE or the coroner saw when they found her body. So let's not jump to rash conclusions and break out the hanging rope just yet.

Exact opposite happened in the Sherin Mathews case. He was charged with a lesser crime first, bailed out, then given a more serious charge. I still believe his wife may face more serious charges as well.

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[JaneEyre]

Exact opposite happened in the Sherin Mathews case. He was charged with a lesser crime first, bailed out, then given a more serious charge. I still believe his wife may face more serious charges as well.

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Also, IIRC, Elizabeth Roen had no idea she was being investigated, but was arrested for the death of her child months later. Then I believe baby Sterling's parents were also arrested months after he died. Just because arrests or charges don't come immediately does not mean that LE believes they are innocent.

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[RAISINISBACK]

Also, IIRC, Elizabeth Roen had no idea she was being investigated, but was arrested for the death of her child months later. Then I believe baby Sterling's parents were also arrested months after he died. Just because arrests or charges don't come immediately does not mean that LE believes they are innocent.

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BBM

I don't think anyone believes they are completely innocent in this child's death, but I for one am not willing at this time to say they are guilty of intentional harm or murder either.

Until the autopsy results are released and a COD is named, I don't think any of us know anything for sure.

For myself I am going to wait until COD is named and the autopsy is released before I commit to either of them being completely guilty or completely innocent.

In other words I would like some iron clad facts before I buy any rope or send them a sympathy bouquet.

 

[JaneEyre]

BBM

I don't think anyone believes they are completely innocent in this child's death, but I for one am not willing at this time to say they are guilty of intentional harm or murder either.

Until the autopsy results are released and a COD is named, I don't think any of us know anything for sure.

For myself I am going to wait until COD is named and the autopsy is released before I commit to either of them being completely guilty or completely innocent.

In other words I would like some iron clad facts before I buy any rope or send them a sympathy bouquet.

I was responding to this statement of yours, which I can conclude based on other recent cases would not necessarily be true.

"The fact that EK was not charged with murder right off indicates to me that LE was not sure the child died as a result of intentional harm. And since there is still no murder charge after the autopsy was done makes me think that the evidence just does not support a clear cut case of intentional murder."

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