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Closing statements finished; jury released for today

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 05:15 PM

Jurors have been sent home for today, after hearing the prosecution and the defense present their closing arguments in William Morva's capital murder trial.

Jurors will be given the option of finding Morva guilty of second-degree murder if they feel that he is not guilty of capital murder.

Defense attorney Tony Anderson told jurors there's no evidence that the killings of Derrick McFarland and Cpl. Eric Sutphin were premeditated. He said jurors should find Morva guilty of second-degree murder instead.

The jury will begin deliberations in the morning.

Defense rests; Morva won't testify

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 01:16 PM

After calling only one witness, Morva's defense attorneys have rested their case.

They informed the court that Morva chose to exercise his Fifth Amendment right and does not plan to testify at this phase of the trial.

Morva asked the judge if he could add something. When told he could, he said it was his desire to testify but that, at the advice of his attorneys, he would not.

Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs told Morva that he should indeed follow his attorneys' advice. Not doing so, he said, could result in "drastic results" that would not be to his advantage.

The court has recessed for about half an hour while attorneys put together instructions for the jury. The case is expected to go to the jury this afternoon.

First defense witness called

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 01:05 PM

William Morva's defense attorneys have called their first witness: Dr. Mark Ringold, a Christiansburg gastroenterologist who treated Morva.

Ringold testified that he first saw Morva in early 2003. Morva was diagnosed with moderate to severe irritable bowel syndrome.

He complained that it would take him up to four hours to have a bowel movement. They would often be bloody and caused him extreme stomach pain, Ringold said.

Morva: "Dear Mom, I'm getting very sick"

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 11:30 AM

Court has been recessed until 12:30 p.m. for lunch. Here are more details jurors heard from four witnesses today before the prosecution rested its case against Morva:

The first was investigator Brad Roop with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. He read a letter Morva wrote to his mother that was dated Sept. 14, 2005, and described conditions at the Montgomery County Jail, where he had been incarcerated about a month earlier on attempted robbery charges.

The letter began, "Dear Mom, I'm getting very sick."

Continue reading "Morva: "Dear Mom, I'm getting very sick"" »

Judge denies defense motion to dismiss

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 11:08 AM

Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs has denied a defense motion to strike the three capital murder charges against William Morva.

Morva attorney challenges commonwealth's case

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 10:53 AM

After prosecutors finished presenting their evidence against William Morva, defense attorney Tony Anderson moved to strike the three capital murder charges brought against his client, saying prosecutors have not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the two shootings were premeditated.

Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs is taking a brief recess to decide how to rule on the motion.

Morva is charged with three counts of capital murder, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of capital murder, escape with force and assault and battery of a law enforcement officer.

Continue reading "Morva attorney challenges commonwealth's case" »

Prosecution rests in Morva case

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 10:47 AM

Prosecutors have finished presenting their case against William Morva after calling four witnesses this morning.

Those witnesses, all experts, testified that the bullets that killed Derrick McFarland, a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital, and Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, were fired from the same gun found with Morva the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2006.

That gun belonged to sheriff's deputy Russell Quesenberry, who escorted Morva to Montgomery Regional Hospital early the morning of Aug. 20, 2006. Witnesses have tesitifed that Morva knocked Quesenberry unconscious.

Continue reading "Prosecution rests in Morva case" »

Morva trial about to start second week

Posted Mar10, 2008 at 08:35 AM

The third day of testimony in the capital murder case of William Morva is about to get under way in Washington County Circuit Court in Abingdon.

It is unclear to those in the galley who will be called to testify today, but there are several people who received subpoenas from the prosecution who have yet to be called. They include several Blacksburg police officers, Virginia State Police troopers and a medical examiner.

Court is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs told jurors Friday afternoon to expect to be here until 5:30 or 6 p.m. Court has been letting out early because defense attorneys are barely cross-examing most of the witnesses who have been called because testimony has been moving along faster than expected. Morva's defense attorneys have not spent much time cross-examining witnesses.
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