Thank you
@DebW - for that info!
So - just to keep my notes straight & this thread - I'm going to go ahead & post this here now & I can shorten this up a bit at the same time!
Tuesday, March 30th:
*Bond Hearing (@ am CT) - TX –
Michael Lee Swearingin (32) &
Jenna Kay Scott (28) (Jan. 4, 2019, Temple; found in Clearview, OK on Jan. 19, 2019) –
for *Cedric Joseph Marks (44/now 45) (ex bf of Scott’s) arrested (1/8/19) in Kent County, Mich. for a burglary warrant, waived extradition to Texas.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (5/10/19) with capital murder of multiple persons & tampering with evidence. $2,016,500 Bond. DA will seek DP.
*Charged (2/4/19), indicted (4/3/19) & arraigned (4/10/19) with interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer violating protective order, burglary habitation intend.
*Charged & indicted (3/13/19) & arraigned (4/26/19) with 1st degree felony burglary (on 8/21/18 at Scott’s home). $16,500 bond on charges of interference with an emergency call, making a false police report & violation of a protection order, bond for the burglary charge is $250K, the murder of multiple persons is carrying a bond of $1.5 million & $250K. Plead not guilty to all charges.
Trial was to start on 6/24/19 for misdemeanor charges (interfering w/emergency call, false report to police officer & violating protective order).
*Charged (3/16/20) with 2nd degree murder in Minnesota of April Lee Pease.
Court information from 2/3/19 thru 7/21/20 reference post #910 here:
Found Deceased - TX - Michael Swearingin, 32, & Jenna Scott, 28, Temple, Bell County, 4 Jan 2019
8/4/20 Update: Next hearing on 8/11/20. 8/11/20 Update: A pre-trial hearing Marks centered around whether the prosecution could keep witness names & numbers, among other things, redacted from thousands of pages of evidence. Marks' defense said they needed full access to everything in the documents. The judge did not make a ruling Tuesday. He told the two sides to try to come up with a solution on their own. If they could not, he said he would make a ruling based on the arguments. The defense also asked that Marks be allowed to wear street clothes when he appears in court. They said the jail attire makes him look guilty. The prosecution agreed to that request. The question of whether future hearings could be live streamed was not discussed, as was originally reported in this article. Bell County Judge Fancy Jezek decided Tuesday that virtual hearings for capital murder suspect Marks will not be allowed & future hearings must be held in a public courtroom. The DA’s office has to provide un-redacted discovery evidence covered in Texas Rules of Criminal Procedure 39.14, Article 39.14, which contains rules for documenting & recording discovery. White said Marks can’t be given identifying or sensitive information presented at hearings.
1/27/21 Update: Judge Steve Duskie of the 436th Judicial District Court has ruled that the death penalty can be considered in this case, should Marks be found guilty. This ruling was in response to a motion filed by Marks’ attorneys asking the court to throw out that possibility. Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza argued that the motion should be denied because the court did not have the authority to preclude the death penalty from this case. Marks’ attorneys also asked for the trial date announcement to be postponed, citing concerns over COVID-19. Judge Duskie denied that motion, too, stating that there were no plans for the trial to begin in the next three to four months.
3/30/31 Update: Judge Steve Duskie refused to reduce the bond Tuesday, 3/30/21 for the man accused of killing Jenna Scott & Michael Swearingin. Cedric Marks asked Tuesday to reduce his bond from $1.5 million to $200K, calling it an unreasonable amount of money. Marks’ brother & sister testified that they are helping to raise cash for the $200K bond. If released, Marks would live in Arlington with his sister, Darlena Marks-Simmons. During testimony, Marks & his siblings told the court that he has no money & his only property that could be used as collateral is a collection of Transformer toys appraised to be worth $30,000. The Bell County District Attorney’s Office argued that he is a flight risk with possible contacts across the country. The judge agreed with the prosecutor & denied the bond reduction.
*Maya Renee Maxwell – Status hearing on 3/16/21.
*Ginell Marie McDonough – 1/31/20: Plead guilty. Sentencing on 11/19/20 where charges were dismissed, will testify against Marks.
