A murder retrial set to begin Monday was postponed due to an appeal made by the Bulloch County Superior Court protesting a state Supreme Court ruling to block statements made in the original trial.
Edith Tillyne Sammons was convicted in 1999 of shooting and running over her estranged husband, Gregory Cooper Sammons. However, since the prosecution switched out a juror without her knowledge or consent, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman S. Fletcher reversed Sammons’ convictions.
In a summary posted on Internet web site www.gasupreme.us/, he wrote “because the trial court replaced a juror following an ex parte meeting at which Sammons was not present, and to which she did not consent, we reverse and remand for a new trial.”
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Keith McIntyre said Monday the district attorney’s office filed an appeal against a recent Supreme Court ruling that certain statements by Sammons during the original trial would not be permitted in the retrial.
The appeal was the reason the retrial was postponed, possibly “three or four months,” McIntyre said.
During the original trial, Sammons gave conflicting accounts of what transpired during Cooper Sammons’ murder. Her counsel asked that statements she made after consulting with her attorney at the time, Sam Brannen, not be included in the retrial. McIntyre appealed the Supreme Court ruling that two particular statements be excluded from the retrial, he said.
Sammons is being held in the meantime at the Bulloch County Jail.
During the 1999 trial, testimony included details of how she pretended to have vehicle trouble, waited for Cooper Sammons to drive past on is way to meet her for counseling, and shot him, then ran over him after he stopped to help.
Edith Tillyne Sammons was convicted in 1999 of shooting and running over her estranged husband, Gregory Cooper Sammons. However, since the prosecution switched out a juror without her knowledge or consent, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman S. Fletcher reversed Sammons’ convictions.
In a summary posted on Internet web site www.gasupreme.us/, he wrote “because the trial court replaced a juror following an ex parte meeting at which Sammons was not present, and to which she did not consent, we reverse and remand for a new trial.”
Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Keith McIntyre said Monday the district attorney’s office filed an appeal against a recent Supreme Court ruling that certain statements by Sammons during the original trial would not be permitted in the retrial.
The appeal was the reason the retrial was postponed, possibly “three or four months,” McIntyre said.
During the original trial, Sammons gave conflicting accounts of what transpired during Cooper Sammons’ murder. Her counsel asked that statements she made after consulting with her attorney at the time, Sam Brannen, not be included in the retrial. McIntyre appealed the Supreme Court ruling that two particular statements be excluded from the retrial, he said.
Sammons is being held in the meantime at the Bulloch County Jail.
During the 1999 trial, testimony included details of how she pretended to have vehicle trouble, waited for Cooper Sammons to drive past on is way to meet her for counseling, and shot him, then ran over him after he stopped to help.