Murder trial remains in Bell County, pending jury selection
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PINEVILLE — The defense attorneys for two high-profile murder suspects in Bell County made their case Thursday morning in a pretrial hearing to have the trial moved to another venue.
Defense Attorney Barbara Carnes argued in Bell County Circuit Court that because of extensive local media coverage regarding the trial of Pineville residents Lora Amburgey, 39, and Joshua Parsons, 27 — who allegedly invaded 70-year-old Paul Slusher’s home in Fourmile, robbed him and then threw him into the Cumberland River, along with other charges — an impartial jury would be impossible to find.
“Josh Parsons and (Lora) Amburgey have a due process right to a fair, and impartial, and disinterested jury,” said Carnes. “Regardless of the number of news articles that we have supplied, I don’t think anybody here can sit here and say this has not been a big story in a small county.”
Carnes made her plea to Special Judge James Bowling and referred to various news reports locally, and even to reports from Knoxville and Lexington media outlets. She also cited comments from the Daily News online edition, as well as posts on the Topix online forum, that she believed indicated that potential jurors have already made conclusions as to the defendant’s guilt or innocence.
She also called several witnesses to the stand: Misty Miracle of Pineville, Drake Knuckles of Clear Creek, Candace Sams of Middlesboro, and Jay Steele of Pineville.
Miracle and Knuckles, who testified to being in a relationship, had both signed affidavits asking that the trial be moved out of the county so the defendants could get a fair jury. Sams also signed an affidavit and made similar comments.
Steele was funeral director for Slusher’s funeral and was called Thursday to testify regarding the size of the funeral and the response from the community.
Responding to questions from Carnes, Steele said he had not heard anyone discuss the trial or the guilt or innocence of Amburgey or Parsons.
“You’ve never discussed the case at all since you provided the funeral service?” Carnes asked Steele.
“That’s exactly right,” he replied.
Paul Slusher’s son, Mark Slusher was also called to the stand. In response to questions from Carnes, Mark Slusher said that he had also not discussed the trial with people in the community.
In her final plea, Commonwealth’s Attorney Karen Greene Blondell argued against many of the points Carnes brought forth throughout the hearing.
“Kentucky courts have repeatedly stated it’s not the amount of publicity but the actual prejudice” said Blondell.
“There’s no question that there was media in this case,” continued Blondell. “It seems to me that the question the court has to ask is, ‘has there been a showing that the media coverage so tainted the possibility of a fair trial, that the case should be moved?’...There’s certainly been no showing based on the testimony today.”
Bowling, at the end of the lengthy hearing, said he thought it would be “hard”, but not impossible, to seat a jury in Bell County.
“If it is going to be hard, it is,” said Bowling. “We don’t shy away from hard tasks around here.”
He added that he didn’t believe news coverage had been prejudicial.
Bowling decided to keep the trial in Bell County, pending one round of jury selection. He said if the selection didn’t work with 130 jurors, he would move it elsewhere.
Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.
Defense Attorney Barbara Carnes argued in Bell County Circuit Court that because of extensive local media coverage regarding the trial of Pineville residents Lora Amburgey, 39, and Joshua Parsons, 27 — who allegedly invaded 70-year-old Paul Slusher’s home in Fourmile, robbed him and then threw him into the Cumberland River, along with other charges — an impartial jury would be impossible to find.
“Josh Parsons and (Lora) Amburgey have a due process right to a fair, and impartial, and disinterested jury,” said Carnes. “Regardless of the number of news articles that we have supplied, I don’t think anybody here can sit here and say this has not been a big story in a small county.”
Carnes made her plea to Special Judge James Bowling and referred to various news reports locally, and even to reports from Knoxville and Lexington media outlets. She also cited comments from the Daily News online edition, as well as posts on the Topix online forum, that she believed indicated that potential jurors have already made conclusions as to the defendant’s guilt or innocence.
She also called several witnesses to the stand: Misty Miracle of Pineville, Drake Knuckles of Clear Creek, Candace Sams of Middlesboro, and Jay Steele of Pineville.
Miracle and Knuckles, who testified to being in a relationship, had both signed affidavits asking that the trial be moved out of the county so the defendants could get a fair jury. Sams also signed an affidavit and made similar comments.
Steele was funeral director for Slusher’s funeral and was called Thursday to testify regarding the size of the funeral and the response from the community.
Responding to questions from Carnes, Steele said he had not heard anyone discuss the trial or the guilt or innocence of Amburgey or Parsons.
“You’ve never discussed the case at all since you provided the funeral service?” Carnes asked Steele.
“That’s exactly right,” he replied.
Paul Slusher’s son, Mark Slusher was also called to the stand. In response to questions from Carnes, Mark Slusher said that he had also not discussed the trial with people in the community.
In her final plea, Commonwealth’s Attorney Karen Greene Blondell argued against many of the points Carnes brought forth throughout the hearing.
“Kentucky courts have repeatedly stated it’s not the amount of publicity but the actual prejudice” said Blondell.
“There’s no question that there was media in this case,” continued Blondell. “It seems to me that the question the court has to ask is, ‘has there been a showing that the media coverage so tainted the possibility of a fair trial, that the case should be moved?’...There’s certainly been no showing based on the testimony today.”
Bowling, at the end of the lengthy hearing, said he thought it would be “hard”, but not impossible, to seat a jury in Bell County.
“If it is going to be hard, it is,” said Bowling. “We don’t shy away from hard tasks around here.”
He added that he didn’t believe news coverage had been prejudicial.
Bowling decided to keep the trial in Bell County, pending one round of jury selection. He said if the selection didn’t work with 130 jurors, he would move it elsewhere.
Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.
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comments (3)
« wallykid wrote on Friday, Oct 23 at 11:09 PM »
i hope they burn in hell but before they burn they should have the same things done to them that they did to that poor old man.if i was on the jury i find them guilty before the trial started. they sure didnt care about that old man. GO KAREN GREENE BLONDELL
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