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John Couey Trial- Justice for Jessica

 
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gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 12:46 am    Post subject: John Couey Trial- Justice for Jessica Reply with quote

Judge Stops Jury Selection In Couey Murder Trial




TAVARES, FL (AP) -- The judge in the murder trial of a man accused of killing Jessica Lunsford has stopped jury selection because he says an impartial panel can't be found in the area.

John Couey's taped confession and other details of the case have received widespread media coverage. The judge threw out the confession before the trial because investigators ignored Couey's requests to speak to an attorney during questioning.

Attorneys spent three days this week weeding out potential jurors who had been exposed to news reports about the case. The judge had moved jury selection to Tavares in Lake County because of
pervasive publicity in Citrus County, where the alleged crimes occurred and where the nine-year-old girl's body was found.

But the judge decided today that the case has to be moved farther from Citrus County.



Created: 7/13/2006 12:41:02 PM
Updated: 7/14/2006 2:58:17 PM
Edited by Jason Raphael, Producer
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gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:35 am    Post subject: Couey trial moved to south Florida Reply with quote

Couey trial moved to south Florida

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Couey could face the death penalty if convicted.

John Couey, who is accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, will go on trial in Miami-Dade County.

Jury selection is tentatively set for Feb. 12, 2007.

Lunsford was abducted from her bed in Citrus County in February 2005 and her body was found three weeks later.

Couey's previous trial ended when a judge decided an impartial jury could not be found in Lake County, where jurors were sought for the trial. Extensive pre-trial publicity in Citrus County, where Lunsford lived, prohibited the finding of impartial jurors there.


Let us hope there is Justice for Jessica.


http://www.baynews9.com/content/74/2006/9/12/182176.html?title=Couey%20trial%20moved%20to%20south%20Florida
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gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 2892
Location: A Place Called Vertigo

PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:09 am    Post subject: Judge suppresses police statements from Trial Reply with quote

Judge suppresses police statements from suspect in Jessica Lunsford murder trial


INVERNESS, Fla. (AP) — A judge ruled Monday that statements allegedly made to detectives by the man accused of kidnapping, raping and burying alive 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford will not be allowed at his trial.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard said Orlando police detectives should not have been allowed to question John Evander Couey about a 1985 murder case because he had already told Citrus County authorities he wanted a lawyer. (CASE IN PICTURES )

A taped confession to Jessica's slaying was thrown out in June for the same reason.

Couey has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, sexual battery on a child, kidnapping and burglary in Jessica's death. Authorities found the girl's body in March 2005 after Couey told them where to look near her Homosassa home in central Florida. She had been missing for about a month.

more at link

http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/010807_statements_ap.html

What a peice of garbage Couey is. I wish this trial would start and end already. This man should never have been walking the streets to begin with.

Gozgals
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let Couey board with his kindly defense lawyer and be part of his family. We should insist that defense lawyers live on islands with their adorable defendants.
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gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:36 am    Post subject: Jury Selection begins today Reply with quote

Snip>
Jury selection scheduled to begin Monday in Couey trial

By CURT ANDERSON
The Associated Press
Posted February 10 2007, 3:27 PM EST


MIAMI -- Ruth Lunsford often visits the grave of her granddaughter, Jessica, most recently to tell her that the man accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering her nearly two years ago is finally about to stand trial.

``I went to the grave site and said to Jessie, 'It's almost over,''' Ruth Lunsford said in an interview. ``I know she's looking down on us and saying, 'Good job.' When this is all over, she's going to be doing cartwheels all over heaven. She's going to be saying, 'Amen.'''



LocalLinks

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the case against John Evander Couey, a 48-year-old convicted sex offender who faces the death penalty for Jessica's 2005 slaying. The trial was moved 300 miles to Miami from Citrus County, where the crime occurred, because of intense pretrial media coverage.

That coverage has included the passage _ with persistent lobbying by Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford _ of tougher sex offender laws in Florida and at least 18 other states and spurred creation of the first-ever coordinated Justice Department effort to track down noncompliant offenders nationwide, such as those who fail to register or aren't living where they are supposed to.

``The impacts of Jessica Lunsford's story have been huge,'' said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. ``In our view, enormous good has come and thousands of children's lives are going to be saved because Jessica Lunsford lived.''
Snip>

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0210couey,0,4093475.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
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gozgals



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PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:56 am    Post subject: Update on trial Reply with quote

Relative: Sex offender confessed to killing Jessica Lunsford while in prison




John Couey doodled at the defense table throughout some of the testimony Monday in his capital murder trial.

FULL COVERAGE
The Jessica Lunsford Case


By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV
MIAMI — While John Couey awaited trial for the rape and murder of his 9-year-old neighbor, the convicted sex offender allegedly confessed to her murder and blamed it on his sister, a relative testified Monday.

"Did you ever talk about the charges against him?" Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway asked Couey's in-law, Gene Secord, who was in the Citrus County Jail with him in March 2005.

"He told me if his sister would have loved him more, he wouldn't have done this," Secord, 38, told the jury in Couey's capital murder trial for the death of Jessica Lunsford.

Secord was one of four adults living with Couey in a single-wide trailer in Crystal Lake, Fla., when Jessica disappeared from her bed the night of Feb. 23, 2005.

When police visited the home the next day in a neighborhood canvas, Secord said Couey abruptly snuck out the back door of the trailer, which was located about 60 yards from the Lunsford home.

Three weeks later, authorities found Jessica's body behind Couey's home after he allegedly told detectives that he buried her there. Her body was stuffed inside two plastic garbage bags and her wrists were bound with speaker wire.

In pretrial hearings, Circuit Judge Richard Howard ruled that Couey's alleged confession was inadmissible because police ignored Couey's request for a lawyer during the interview.

Even without the confession, prosecutors plan to present several other incriminating statements the defendant gave to others, including Secord, after he was charged with Jessica's murder.

Secord, who is married to Couey's niece, said the defendant often spoke about religion while in custody on four counts related to the third-grader's disappearance.

"I asked him, if he believed in God so much, how could he have done [this]?" Secord said. "He told me that it was in the past and you can't live in the past."

Secord, who said he had no reason to suspect that Jessica was in the home, was not charged in her abduction. He testified that he was in jail for failure to pay child support when Couey allegedly made the incriminating statements.

Couey, 48, did not look at Secord during his testimony, and instead focused his attention on a drawing he was making of a tree. His lawyers claim he is mentally retarded and are expected to present evidence in a hearing outside the jury's presence to support the claims. If Howard sides with their arguments, Couey could be spared the death penalty.


Page 2 on link


1 | 2

http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/030507_ctv.html

Quote:
Couey, 48, did not look at Secord during his testimony, and instead focused his attention on a drawing he was making of a tree. His lawyers claim he is mentally retarded and are expected to present evidence in a hearing outside the jury's presence to support the claims. If Howard sides with their arguments, Couey could be spared the death penalty.


Comments: Sure Couey is mentally retarded. Sure! He is just another scumbag who deserves the death penalty which is too easy for him.

Gozgals
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any member of society, whether retarded or neurotic or psychotic or whatever, must be able to refrain from kidnapping and murder; otherwise, they must be kept where they cannot hurt others. No one has permission to behave that way - there's no excuse.

If nothing else can be done, I propose that Couey live with his defense attorney, who should be held accountable for any problems his client gets into.
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gozgals



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PostPosted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:27 pm    Post subject: VERDICT: GUILTY Reply with quote

VERDICT-- GUILTY on all counts



Amen! Now the waiting on the death penalty.

God Bless The Lunsfords and may Jessie rest in peace.

Gozgals



http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/030707_verdict_ctv.html


Snip

Sex offender convicted of murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, could face death




John Couey faces the death penalty when the jury returns next week for a penalty phase.


The Jessica Lunsford Case

By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV
MIAMI — A jury took just four hours Wednesday to find a convicted sex offender guilty of first-degree murder for the death of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford.

The panel of six men and six women also convicted John Evander Couey of burglary, kidnapping and sexual battery for abducting Jessica from her bed and raping her before burying her in a shallow grave.

The jurors will return to Miami-Dade Circuit Court next week to decide if Couey should be put to death for his crimes against Jessica, who disappeared on Feb. 24, 2005. Her body was found in two garbage bags behind the trailer he shared with relatives. Her wrists were bound with speaker wire and she was clutching a stuffed dolphin.

Snip
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gozgals



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:44 pm    Post subject: Death Reply with quote

Death for John Couey!

Finally- Justice for Jessica. This will never bring her back but at least the courts did their job.

I'm sorry to say Mr. Slime will spend years on death row.

Most of all, I have too many tears for the Lunsford family.

Let's all start changing the Laws, starting with having Jessica's Law in enacted in every state.

Gozgals

Tracking devices for all from now on!!!!!
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gozgals



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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:09 am    Post subject: Couey's Verdict- Court TV Reply with quote

Updated March 14, 2007, 6:35 p.m. ET

Jury recommends death for convicted killer of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford


By Emanuella Grinberg
Court TV
MIAMI — A jury has recommended that John Evander Couey be executed for raping and killing his 9-year-old neighbor, Jessica Lunsford.

The panel took just an hour and 15 minutes to decide that Couey, 48, should die for his crimes, committed nearly two years ago. The same jury convicted Couey last week of first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual battery and burglary.

Jessica disappeared from her Homosassa, Fla., bedroom the night of Feb. 23, 2005. Three weeks later, her body was found buried in two plastic garbage bags behind Couey's trailer. Her wrists were bound with speaker wire and she was clutching a stuffed dolphin.

Couey, who did not appear engaged in much of the trial proceedings, did not show an immediate reaction to the verdict, but later fidgeted in his seat and looked around the courtroom.

Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, closed his eyes and nodded slightly as the verdict was read.

"This is justice for Jessie, but not just for her. I'm sure there are other victims out there," he said later to reporters.

"If you crossed paths with Couey, and he hurt you, then this is justice for you," Lunsford added of Couey, who was a convicted sex offender at the time of the murder.

The jury's decision, which did not have to be unanimous, was 10-2 in favor of death and is an advisory sentence, which Circuit Judge Richard Howard will take into consideration when issuing the sentence at a later date.

Before the jury began deliberating Wednesday, Couey's defense attempted to convince the panel that his mental incapacity and childhood traumas merited mercy.

A defense psychologist blamed childhood brain damage, a dysfunctional upbringing and chronic substance abuse for what he diagnosed as Couey's mental illness and retardation. Experts for the prosecution found no evidence that Couey suffered from any psychotic disorder.


Jessica Lunsford disappeared on Feb. 23, 2005.
Public defender Alan Fanter said his client acted on an impulse when he abducted Jessica from her bedroom and brought her to his room in a nearby trailer home, where he raped her before disposing of her body.

"Life in society wasn't fair to Mr. Couey," Fanter told the panel of six men and seven women. "Give him the opportunities he never had in life. Allow him to live and die in normal course."

But assistant state attorney Richard Ridgway urged the panel not to look at what had happened to Couey, but at the choices he made by abducting and killing Jessica.

"What we become in life is more dependent on the choices we make," Ridgway said as he stood among the bloody mattress and the plastic bags that were introduced into evidence during the guilt phase. "The choices that John Couey made in his life and with the life of Jessica Lunsford outweigh everything that ever happened to him."

As he urged the panel to return a recommendation of death, Ridgway cited six aggravating factors, including Jessica's age, the commission of the murder during a kidnapping, and above all, the heinousness of his crime.

Ridgway went through a list of adjectives used in the law to describe the nature of the crime, including pitiless, vile, wicked and torturous. But he said the most appropriate word for the crime was one the jurors would not find in the statute: evil.

"If you can find one word that described what John Couey did, and you could only use one word, it's the only one that can come close," Ridgway said.


http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/031407_ctv.html
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