Rights not violated for man who allegedly set woman on fire
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At issue during a hearing Friday was if the murder indictment should be dropped against suspect Franklin De La Cruz because he had not been afforded his constitutional right to meet with his attorneys to prepare for his trial in June.
De La Cruz, 26, is charged with first-degree murder along with his halfbrother, Luiz Gomez, 19, and their friend Ruben Pimentel, 32, for the death this September of Gina Thompson, 35. The victim died eight days after being set on fire inside a trailer at Measels Terrace View Estates. She was burned over 80 percent of her body.
Prosecutors allege the men each took part in the slaying with one ripping the phone from the wall, another holding witnesses at bay with a knife and the other pouring gasoline on the victim while she slept on a couch. Prosecutors suspect the incident occurred because the men believed Thompson had hidden or stolen their drugs.
De La Cruz and his brother had arrived in Tennessee from New York just eight hours before the incident. All three men face the death penalty if convicted.
During Friday’s hearing, De La Cruz attorney Hershel Koger maintained his client’s rights had been violated because Warren County Jail had no place to meet in privacy with De La Cruz. Koger testified that during his first attempt to speak with his client, they were placed near the front booking room, which had no privacy.
“I counted 86 people who walked through or into the room during that short time, and anyone in the room could have heard what was being said,” Koger testified, noting things were almost as bad during his second meeting when they were placed in a break room inside the jail.
“We’re not asking for a room at the Ritz-Carlton,” Koger said, noting they require only a private meeting place so their conversations can be kept confidential.
In response, Potter maintained the request to dismiss the charge against De La Cruz was going overboard.
“This is flat out frivolous,” Potter said, pointing out even had there been problems before, that there is still eight months to prepare for trial.
While agreeing there were no grounds to dismiss charges against De La Cruz, Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley did express concern about meeting accommodations at the jail. Stanley, prior to becoming circuit judge, represented murder suspect Eric Sullivan, who has since been convicted. His initial interview with Sullivan at the jail was overheard by a sheriff’s officer, who later testified in preliminary hearing that he heard Sullivan confess to the slaying.
Given his prior experience with attorney-client privileges at the jail, Stanley said he had talked to the sheriff and a special room is being prepared so attorneys can meet with their clients in relative privacy. Stanley noted the special room should remedy the problem and that there will be no need to overturn the indictment.
Stanley also vetoed a request by De La Cruz to transfer him to a different jail. De La Cruz was the only one of the three defendants present during Friday’s hearing, although attorneys for all three defendants were present.