The case of a Carrollton man arrested in July for allegedly fatally stabbing a card game opponent, as well as the case of a Clem man accused in the shooting death of his son-in-law, were both continued — or delayed — on Friday until next year.
Roy Lee Gates Jr., 26, was arrested in July after allegedly stabbing Robert Hill Jr. of Carrollton following a “scuffle” over who had won the card game.
Public defender Julie Moore, who is representing Gates, requested the continuance from Superior Court Judge John Simpson Friday, saying she had not received the discovery items from the district attorney’s office yet. Several assistant district attorneys immediately told Simpson that Moore would receive the discovery as soon as possible.
Police suspect money was involved in the stabbing, which caused the death of 53-year-old Hill.
The men, along with several others, gathered on Gates’ front porch at the house he and his father share on Spring Street in Carrollton on the night of July 15. Gates, Hill and two other men were playing the popular card game spades when the fight broke out. Hill was stabbed once in each leg, in the chest and in the bicep.
The other murder case, that of 68-year-old Clyde Henry Puckett, was also put off to an unspecified date in 2013, after Puckett’s attorney, public defender Shikera Turner, said she had not received the results from an independent psychological evaluation yet.
Turner also requested and was granted a continuance in October, saying Puckett needed a complete psychological evaluation.
Puckett was charged with murder and aggravated assault after investigators with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office discovered that a gun located at the Clem residence where the crime took place belonged to him.
According to Capt. Shane Taylor, investigators found Michael Shane Barber, 40, dead from multiple gun shot wounds at the White Oak Court home last October. Puckett had called investigators about the shooting Monday morning.
“A family member went by the house and found Michael Shane Barber unresponsive,” Taylor said at the time. “His father-in-law, who called the sheriff’s office, has now been charged with the crime.”
Taylor said the sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the motive behind the murder, but interviews with neighbors and the suspect revealed that Puckett and Barber had a long-standing dislike for one another.
“It was an ongoing feud between the father-in-law and the victim related to family issues,” Taylor said. “We investigated throughout the day, and had interviews with neighbors familiar with the history between the victim and the suspect.”
Additional charges were levied against Puckett in June, including racketeering, insurance fraud, arson, theft and operating a chop shop.
Also named in the bill of indictment was Karmen Ann Barber, the wife of Michael Shane Barber, the vicitm in the murder case.
Karmen Barber pled guilty to her charges of insurance fraud and operating a chop shop last month and was sentenced to five years of probation.
Also continued during Simpson’s calendar call Friday:
• The case of James Edward Standish, a 19-year-old man charged with homicide by vehicle, among other charges.
Standish’s cases (he also has a separate case in which he is charged with burglary) were both continued to 2013.
The attorney for the defendant, Carrollton attorney Allen Trapp, requested the continuance because he said he did not expect to be ready by the Nov. 26 trial week.
Standish was arrested in June after a wreck in which a 20-year-old passenger in his car was killed. Chris Fulford was the only one of the three passengers not thrown from the car because he was wearing a selt belt, but was killed.
The accident occurred in Carrollton on Kingsbridge Road, near Pilgrim’s Pride, on June 21.
Standish, under 21 years old, was above the legal 0.02 limit when he was tested four hours after the accident — when tested, the defendant recorded a 0.063 blood alcohol content level.
The defendant was released on a $50,000 bond he received in September.
Standish faces eight different charges.
• The case of Bobby Lee Newman, also charged with homicide by vehicle, as well as serious injury by vehicle and driving under the influence.
Newman, 29, is being represented by Carrollton attorney Jason Swindle, who told Simpson that the state is still wading through multiple depositions, and that he would not be opposed to its request for a continuance. Simpson complied, putting the case off until 2013.
Assistant District Attorney Vincent Faucette said Newman was driving in Carrollton when he was involved in a one-car collision, resulting in the death of one passenger and serious injury to the other two.
Todd Goddard, 27, died from the February accident, and Richard Evans, 25, and Christopher Nestick, 26, were seriously injured.
Faucette said Newman was outside of the vehicle when responding officers arrived, but through witness statements, authorities were able to deduce Newman was driving.
When tested, Newman’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.
Post a Comment