The grand jury phase of John's case has been the least troubling thus far -- they returned an indictment yesterday. Hooray.
Our next step is to wait for the trial. We have a friend whose husband was murdered a few years ago. (WHY do people feel the need to murder each other?!) Anyway, in her case, the time between commission of the crime and the trial's conclusion was a little over two years. Make yourselves comfortable, everyone. It's going to be a long ride.
Meanwhile, I would encourage anyone who has any first-hand knowledge of anything relating to John or this case, to PLEASE WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU KNOW. It will probably be a long time before trial, and your memory is bound to dim between now and then. Write down as much as you know now, and stick to the facts. Don't speculate. Don't gossip. DO make sure you share everything you know with Detective Steven Shillingford (703-246-7858), no matter how trivial it seems to you now. Also, don't assume you won't be called upon to testify. As a family, we're already learning that more people may have to testify at this thing than we ourselves would have assumed.
Thanks much.
Love,
Lisa
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Update on Bail Status
A hearing was held in court before the pliminary hearing this week. In fact it was several weeks ago. And it was determined by a judge that John, the person suspected of killing Todd, will be held without bail for the time being.
Preliminary Hearing
On Monday, we had what's called a preliminary hearing in Fairfax County General District Court. When a person is charge with a felony (in Virginia), they're entitled to a pretrial hearing, which is basically a sort of mini-trial without a jury, where a judge decides if there's probable cause to proceed with indicting and trying the person, or not (in which case, the charges would either be reduced or dismissed altogether). The preliminary hearing takes place before discovery, and it is generally in the prosecutor's interest to refrain from offering up all of their evidence at the hearing. They want to present enough evidence to pass snuff with the judge, but not more.
Chief Judge Donald P. McDonough presided at Monday's hearing. (I rather liked the man -- he seemed competent, fair, and down-to-earth.) Carrie and Detective Shillingford testified (and they both did an excellent job). Katie Swart argued for the prosecution, and Mark Dycio (an associate of Jim Love) argued for the defense. Jim Love was also present at the defense table. Our social worker from V/WAP also attended and sat with us in the gallery -- it was very nice to finally meet her in person.
The hearing was emotionally hard on us (especially on Carrie who had to testify), but the outcome was good. Chief Judge McDonough determined that there is probable cause to believe that the accused person committed the offense, and certified the case to the grand jury. The grand jury hearing will take place on Monday, but we won't be involved in that (grand jury proceedings are closed). We're not worried about that step, though -- the evidence is good and (to paraphrase Sol Wachtler) most grand juries will indict a ham sandwich. Once the indictment comes through, our next step will be to wait...and wait...and wait...until the trial rolls around, which will be months from now. Of course, we could all be saved a lot of time, trouble, and expense if John would just fess up and admit to doing what he clearly did -- but none of us are holding our breath for that to happen.
I would like to make one request regarding the trial, which will be in Circuit Court: whoever reads this, please offer prayers that we'll get a good judge who will handle the case fairly, rationally, and in accordance with the law. (If you've been reading this blog, you know there's at least one judge in the Fairfax County Circuit Court pool who hasn't always behaved that way.) So much will hinge on what evidence the judge deems admissible. So please pray that we'll be assigned a good judge.
Love,
Lisa
P.S. A note about the charges: For the purpose of the preliminary hearing, the prosecution moved to temporarily amend the charges from "murder in the first degree" to simply "murder," with no degree specified, while reserving the right to specify the degree prior to trial. The defense agreed to the amendment, reserving the right to object to whatever degree the prosecution moves to specify later. The reason for the amendment was purely strategic -- under Virginia statute, if the charge is murder without a degree specified, the court must presume that it's murder in the second degree, even though that isn't explicitly stated. The advantage for the prosecution is that it lowers the burden of proof needed to "pass" the preliminary hearing, so they don't have to play as many of their cards this early in the case. Not a bad strategy, really. Still, rumors have been flying that the charge has been permanently reduced. Make no mistake, the prosecution fully intends to charge John with murder in the first degree. And if the defense objects to the degree being reinstated in the charge, there's really not a lot they can do about it.
P.P.S. The Virginia Courts Case Information online now shows the amended charge as being murder in the 2nd degree. That is either a typo by the clerk, or a system default for murder that has no degree specified. (My guess is the latter.) Once again, I repeat, the prosecution fully intends to charge John with murder in the first degree. The amendment is only temporary.
Thanks.
Chief Judge Donald P. McDonough presided at Monday's hearing. (I rather liked the man -- he seemed competent, fair, and down-to-earth.) Carrie and Detective Shillingford testified (and they both did an excellent job). Katie Swart argued for the prosecution, and Mark Dycio (an associate of Jim Love) argued for the defense. Jim Love was also present at the defense table. Our social worker from V/WAP also attended and sat with us in the gallery -- it was very nice to finally meet her in person.
The hearing was emotionally hard on us (especially on Carrie who had to testify), but the outcome was good. Chief Judge McDonough determined that there is probable cause to believe that the accused person committed the offense, and certified the case to the grand jury. The grand jury hearing will take place on Monday, but we won't be involved in that (grand jury proceedings are closed). We're not worried about that step, though -- the evidence is good and (to paraphrase Sol Wachtler) most grand juries will indict a ham sandwich. Once the indictment comes through, our next step will be to wait...and wait...and wait...until the trial rolls around, which will be months from now. Of course, we could all be saved a lot of time, trouble, and expense if John would just fess up and admit to doing what he clearly did -- but none of us are holding our breath for that to happen.
I would like to make one request regarding the trial, which will be in Circuit Court: whoever reads this, please offer prayers that we'll get a good judge who will handle the case fairly, rationally, and in accordance with the law. (If you've been reading this blog, you know there's at least one judge in the Fairfax County Circuit Court pool who hasn't always behaved that way.) So much will hinge on what evidence the judge deems admissible. So please pray that we'll be assigned a good judge.
Love,
Lisa
P.S. A note about the charges: For the purpose of the preliminary hearing, the prosecution moved to temporarily amend the charges from "murder in the first degree" to simply "murder," with no degree specified, while reserving the right to specify the degree prior to trial. The defense agreed to the amendment, reserving the right to object to whatever degree the prosecution moves to specify later. The reason for the amendment was purely strategic -- under Virginia statute, if the charge is murder without a degree specified, the court must presume that it's murder in the second degree, even though that isn't explicitly stated. The advantage for the prosecution is that it lowers the burden of proof needed to "pass" the preliminary hearing, so they don't have to play as many of their cards this early in the case. Not a bad strategy, really. Still, rumors have been flying that the charge has been permanently reduced. Make no mistake, the prosecution fully intends to charge John with murder in the first degree. And if the defense objects to the degree being reinstated in the charge, there's really not a lot they can do about it.
P.P.S. The Virginia Courts Case Information online now shows the amended charge as being murder in the 2nd degree. That is either a typo by the clerk, or a system default for murder that has no degree specified. (My guess is the latter.) Once again, I repeat, the prosecution fully intends to charge John with murder in the first degree. The amendment is only temporary.
Thanks.
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