Post by Anja on Jun 12, 2006 10:25:59 GMT -5
Clinton County gets high-profile trial----Lawrenceville woman accused of
killing son
A little county is getting a big trial that has attracted thev attention
of local and national media.
Julie Rea-Harper, accused of first-degree murder of her 10-year-old son,
was moved earlier this month from Lawrence County in eastern Illinois to
the Clinton County Courthouse in Carlyle.
"The trial will last about 3 weeks, including jury selection, and will
begin July 11," said Hamilton County Circuit Judge Barry Vaughan, who will
preside.
Nearly 2 years ago, Rea-Harper won a new trial after the 5th District
Appellate Court in Mount Vernon ruled she didn't get a fair trial when a
Wayne County jury found her guilty of murdering her son, Joel Kirkpatrick,
as he slept in his bed in Rea-Harper's Lawrenceville home.
Rea-Harper received a 65-year prison sentence.
"It should be quite a trial," said Clinton County Sheriff Mike Kreke.
But spectators need to get in line for a seat early.
There are about 70 seats in the courtroom's gallery, Kreke said, and seats
will be given on a first-come, 1st-serve basis.
"Right now, we have no plan for an overflow area or a closed-circuit
telecast of the trial," Vaughan said. "We may revisit that, if it becomes
necessary."
The Clinton County Jail will also be the site of a staging area for the
media, Kreke said.
ABC's news show "20/20" covered Rea-Harper's case, as well as Springfield
and Chicago newspapers. Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful
Convictions and the Downstate Innocence Project worked on Harper's appeal.
Rea-Harper, 37, is free on bond.
Prosecutors maintain that Rea-Harper stabbed her only child, Joel, in 1997
after losing custody of him to her former husband.
Rea-Harper told police she fought with a masked intruder who attacked
Joel, but got away.
Serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells later confessed to killing Joel in
interviews with the author of a 2002 book and later Illinois police.
Sells is on Texas death row for murdering a 13-year-old girl.
Vaughan ruled Sells' statements can be used during Rea-Harper's new trial.
(source: Belleville News-Democrat)
killing son
A little county is getting a big trial that has attracted thev attention
of local and national media.
Julie Rea-Harper, accused of first-degree murder of her 10-year-old son,
was moved earlier this month from Lawrence County in eastern Illinois to
the Clinton County Courthouse in Carlyle.
"The trial will last about 3 weeks, including jury selection, and will
begin July 11," said Hamilton County Circuit Judge Barry Vaughan, who will
preside.
Nearly 2 years ago, Rea-Harper won a new trial after the 5th District
Appellate Court in Mount Vernon ruled she didn't get a fair trial when a
Wayne County jury found her guilty of murdering her son, Joel Kirkpatrick,
as he slept in his bed in Rea-Harper's Lawrenceville home.
Rea-Harper received a 65-year prison sentence.
"It should be quite a trial," said Clinton County Sheriff Mike Kreke.
But spectators need to get in line for a seat early.
There are about 70 seats in the courtroom's gallery, Kreke said, and seats
will be given on a first-come, 1st-serve basis.
"Right now, we have no plan for an overflow area or a closed-circuit
telecast of the trial," Vaughan said. "We may revisit that, if it becomes
necessary."
The Clinton County Jail will also be the site of a staging area for the
media, Kreke said.
ABC's news show "20/20" covered Rea-Harper's case, as well as Springfield
and Chicago newspapers. Northwestern University's Center for Wrongful
Convictions and the Downstate Innocence Project worked on Harper's appeal.
Rea-Harper, 37, is free on bond.
Prosecutors maintain that Rea-Harper stabbed her only child, Joel, in 1997
after losing custody of him to her former husband.
Rea-Harper told police she fought with a masked intruder who attacked
Joel, but got away.
Serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells later confessed to killing Joel in
interviews with the author of a 2002 book and later Illinois police.
Sells is on Texas death row for murdering a 13-year-old girl.
Vaughan ruled Sells' statements can be used during Rea-Harper's new trial.
(source: Belleville News-Democrat)