Judge rules journal can be evidence

But Criminal Court Judge Eugene Eblen said it’s unlikely a Roane County jury will hear the separate first-degree murder trials of George and Jennifer Hyatte.

Saying he believed the highly publicized case ‘would demand a change of venue,’ Eblen said that bringing in juries from outside the county ‘is probably the best way to do it.’

The hearing Thursday came in the same Roane County Courthouse where Jennifer Hyatte, 33, allegedly ambushed two guards while they were walking her husband George Hyatte, 36, back to a prison van two years ago to the day.

Correction officer Wayne ‘Cotton’ Morgan died from bullet wounds in the exchange. Both Hyattes are now charged with first-degree murder in his death and Jennifer Hyatte is also charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at Morgan’s partner, Lary Harris.

The state is seeking the death penalty. Her trial is set for Nov. 5.

Police say Jennifer Hyatte, who met and married her husband while working in a prison, wrote about the case in a journal she titled ‘A Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde.’ Authorities found the journal in her Ohio jail cell after she was returned to Tennessee.

Jennifer Hyatte testified she would have taken the journal with her if she knew she wasn’t coming back to her cell. Her lawyer, John Eldridge, argued the writings were private.