Posted on 11/21/2005 10:32:41 AM PST by SmithL
KINGSTON — Former prison nurse Jennifer Hyatte didn’t enter a plea or even utter a word during a brief appearance in Roane County Criminal Court today on first-degree murder charges in the killing of a prison guard.
Criminal Court Judge E. Eugene Eblen set a trial date for July 25, 2006. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Hyatte and her husband, who are accused of killing correction officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan on Aug. 9. George Hyatte’s trial is scheduled for Aug. 8, 2006.
Jennifer Hyatte’s attorney, John Eldridge, said he would like to move the trial to another location because of the publicity surrounding the shooting.
"We will certainly be seeking a motion for a change of venue," Eldridge said after the arraignment.
Eldridge also said he would try to block prosecutors from introducing as evidence a jailhouse diary found in his client’s cell in Ohio, where the Hyattes were captured the day after the shooting.
"I haven’t seen them," Eldridge said of the writings, which include letters as well as notes written on a tablet. "I would anticipate there would be some issues concerning those."
Eldridge said the diary is the likely reason prosecutors wanted to pursue separate trials for the Hyattes. The diary, which would presumably be used as evidence against Jennifer Hyatte, wouldn’t be admissible if the Hyattes were tried together, Eldridge said.
Ohio prosecutor Ron O’Brien told Columbus, Ohio, television station WCMH that the 34-page diary, entitled "A Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde," contains an account of Morgan’s killing.
"Not only is the escape (discussed), but the crime is discussed. As a prosecutor, this would be useful at time of trial," O’Brien said in an August interview.
Authorities allege Jennifer Hyatte, 31, shot Morgan during a gunfight after her 34-year-old husband made a court appearance here. George Hyatte had just pleaded guilty to assault charges.
The 56-year-old Morgan later died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
According to police, the Hyattes fled the scene following a shootout with Morgan’s partner, Larry "Porky" Harris. Jennifer Hyatte apparently was wounded in the leg during the gun battle. Authorities captured the Hyattes without incident 36 hours after the shooting at a low-rent motel in Columbus, Ohio.
A grand jury returned indictments against the Hyattes for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder last month. The grand jury also charged George Hyatte with escape and Jennifer Hyatte with helping her husband’s flight.
Harris also was at the courthouse today, though not as a witness in Jennifer Hyatte’s hearing. The correction officer stationed at the Brushy Mountain Correction Complex was back at work escorting prisoners to court.
The Hyattes are being held without bond in Nashville prisons. Jennifer Hyatte is in the Tennessee Prison for Women, while George Hyatte, already sentenced to 41 years for burglary and assault, is in the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.
Not too smart of that little cop killing *itch writing a diary.
Don`t imagine either one of those scums trials lasting more than a day or two.
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