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Howard says other trials shouldn’t be halted
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Liz Markowitz, a supervisor with the Fulton County public defender’s office, stood outside the courthouse at 8:30 a.m. today clutching bouquets of flowers for the victims - friends she had known for years.
“I’m still shaky,” said Markowitz as tears formed.
She was waiting on the sidewalk for a co-worker before working up the courage to reenter the courthouse.
On Friday, Markowitz had advised some of her employees to drop by suspect Brian Nichols’ rape trial to observe a defendant on the stand.
“Thankfully, they don’t listen to me,” she said.
Veteran defense attorney Steve Sadow, coffee in hand, rushed up to the courthouse steps for a hearing in a criminal case that he isn’t sure will go as planned. He wasn’t at the courthouse Friday, but he reflected on the tragedy of losing a fair-minded judge like Rowland Barnes.
“He was a judge you looked forward to being before,” Sadow said.
District Attorney Paul Howard said everyone is somber but continuing on with their duties. He expects some defense attorneys to request mistrials in cases already underway, but he doesn’t believe any trials should be halted. That’s what happened after the Fulton courthouse was evacuated on Sept. 11, he said.
“Jurors said they thought they could still continue and decide the cases based on the facts and not emotion,” Howard said.
Howard is particularly concerned about the death penalty trial of Michael LeJeune, 27. It took more than a month and about 400 potential jurors to pick a jury to decide LeJeune’s fate in the 1997 North Fulton slaying and dismemberment of Ronnie Davis, 39, of Dunwoody.
The state’s key witness, Kelly Anand, 27, was in the middle of answering tough questions by LeJeune’s lawyers when deputies stopped the trial and hurried alarmed jurors to the jury room and Superior Court Judge Constance Russell to her chambers. Defense attorneys, prosecutors, the victim’s family and spectators were locked inside the courtroom for about three hours.
Jurors, who have been sequestered for a week, asked the judge for an explanation. Russell confirmed there had been a gunman on the loose at the courthouse, but she assured them it had nothing to do with LeJeune’s case. Russell sent jurors back to their hotel and told them they would discuss today whether they felt they could continue.
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