One of the two men charged in the brutal hate crime killing of Aaron Hall in Crothersville last month has been held in a Jackson County jail without bond after he was charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter, but that could change. Judge Bill Vance has ordered a bail hearing for 18-year-old Coleman King next Monday, May 21, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. in Jackson Circuit Court at the request of King's attorney, Joseph Leone Payne of Austin.
King is also seeking a very speedy trial according to the report in the Seymour Tribune. Vance originally scheduled his trial for October 23, but he agreed to move it to June 21 at 8:30 a.m. His final pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 29 at 3:00 p.m. Strangely, authorities have yet to release the results of an autopsy report after Hall's body was sent to a Louisville medical examiner last month.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, King began beating 35-year-old Aaron Hall after Hall grabbed King in the crotch area and asked for oral sex. King and his friend, Garrett Gray allegedly beat Hall over a several hour period. At one point, King allegedly struck Hall with his boot about 75 times. The two, with the assistance of a third man, James Hendricks, dragged Hall out of Gray's home and loaded him into the back of a pickup truck. Hall was driven to a secluded farm road where he was further beaten and his naked body dumped in a ditch. According to King, he and Gray later returned to the scene and Gray fired two shots from a shotgun. King did not know whether Gray shot Hall, and the autopsy results have not yet been revealed by authorities. The following day, Hendricks and a fourth man, John Hodge, discovered Hall's dead body in a nearby field. Gray and King later retrieved Hall's body by rolling it up in a tarp and hiding it in a detached garage at Gray's house where it was discovered by police 10 days later.
Gray's father, Terry Gray, is a deputy coroner in Jackson County and has publicly stated that his son did not intentionally kill Hall.
11 comments:
Why is the town of Crothersville not lighting candles and holding vigils as they have done in the past? Does Aaron Hall not matter?
This is an outrage, and yet another example of Jackson County justice gone mad.
And much of the mainstream media, including the Indianapolis Star and every major GLBT organization in this state continue to pretend it never happened.
IE should be all over this.
Or are they still too busy writing and publishing their self-congratulatory ads for their "victory" over at the Statehouse?
On the legal front, Gary, help me out: I know we're constitutionally entitled to a speedy trial. But why isn't the prosecutor objecting to this speedy schedule? Can the state get its evidence together in time?
Looks to me like they just want this over...fast.
It is highly unusual in this day and age to see a trial for a crime of this magnitude tried within 60 days of the accused being arrested, even if a plea bargain is arranged. I suppose if I was the defense attorney, and I was trying to obtain a conviction on the lesser charge, I would want this case to move through as quickly as possible before the media's spotlight is shown on it, adding pressure to the prosecutor.
Once again, A.C.(Anonymous Chickenshit) pops in to take an unprovoked swipe at IE, who is continuing to put in much volunteer time as A.C. bitterly hammers on his keyboard.
IE is not perfect, and certainly not undeserving of criticism, but your anonymous whining gets tiresome.
anonymous or not, it's got some validity
this is the kind of case they should be all over
where are they?
Denise, I'm deleting your comment because I don't want people calling Judge Vance's office. He's not a legislator or member of the political branch. You just can't call him up and lobby him to rule a particular way.
I found a profile on MySpace last night of Aaron Hall with several pics. It was strange.
Of course they want this over quickly. This town doesn't want the publicity. Remember now, we are in Jackson County, by far the most corrupt county in the state.
I can't wait to see what will happen next. I'm sure these boys made a false confession, the man who received the text message gave "false information" and we will be lead to the real killer soon by perhaps a generic cigarette butt?
Okay, this is an Austin Indiana attorney thing.
James Kilburn previously asked for his client to be released on bail citing Criminal Rule 4, a right to a speedy trial.
Ironically, it was Terry Gray serving as the Neace family spokesperson who went on national tv to protest Stockelman's release.
At the time 15 felons, mostly drug offenders were released under the same ruling.
John Neace claimed that he would work to repeal the law, but after Stockelman was denied bail he never voiced his concern over the ruling again.
Now what applies to one should apply to all.
If it was wrong for Anthony Stockelman to request bail, it is equally wrong for Coleman King to request bail.
If one case in a small town could generate national attention, shouldn't this case also draw national attention?
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