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.
Morva is accused of fatally shooting Derrick McFarland, a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital, the morning of Aug. 20, 2006, as he escaped from a deputy's custody at the hospital.
He is accused of fatally shooting Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office the next morning as Sutphin took part in a search for Morva on the Huckleberry Trail near the Virginia Tech campus.
Tech canceled classes on the first day of school because of the manhunt, which lasted about 37 hours. Blacksburg police captured Morva the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2006, in a brushy area just off the trail.
Morva faces a third capital murder charge because he is accused of killing more than one person in less than three years.
If he is convicted of any one of the capital murder charges, he will face a sentence of either life in prison or the death penalty.
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