Griffith trial to stay in McCracken
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
December 22, 2015
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/griffith-trial-to-stay-in-mccracken/article_1bceb348-5af9-11e7-91d3-10604b9f0f42.html
The trial of Keith Griffith will stay in McCracken County and begin as scheduled Feb. 2.
In circuit court Monday, Judge Tim Kaltenbach denied Griffith's motions to move the case to another county and delay his trial.
Griffith faces a capital murder charge, and others, after his wife was found dead last year in their burned Reidland home. He is accused of shooting her and setting fire to their house with her and their two dogs inside.
Griffith was tried earlier this year, but a mistrial was declared when the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.
In court Monday morning, Griffith's attorney, Michael Bufkin, of the public defender's office capital trial branch in LaGrange, argued the defense's position on four motions filed last week, including those for a change of venue and postponement.
Bufkin said he and public defender Chris McNeill need more time to prepare the case. Their motion states there are more than 1,000 pages of trial transcripts and more than 1,200 pages of discovery, as well as 83 CDs and DVDs, to sort through.
Bufkin also wrote he and McNeill need more time to conduct interviews and complete their own investigation.
"We believe that we have to have additional time in order to provide Mr. Griffith with the level of due process and the level of effective assistance of counsel that is required by the Constitution of Kentucky and by the Constitution of the United States," Bufkin said. "I think the facts are just too overwhelming to ignore, and that is the amount of material that has to be covered between now and Feb. 2 and the pace at which we've been able to cover this material. It's just outpacing our resources and we're just simply not getting it done."
"We filed this motion reluctantly, judge," he continued. "It's not a motion that we're filing frivolously or without a great deal of thought. We've met and discussed this at length as to whether or not we can complete all of this by Feb. 2 and we're just not able to do it."
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee opposed the motion, arguing his office will be ready to try the case as planned.
"We put (the case) together for trial in a fairly short period of time last time considering the amount of evidence," he said. "It did take several weeks to prepare and get it ready for the trial, but we're still just in December and the trial is in February."
Kaltenbach agreed with the commonwealth, stating in a trial as short as Griffith's previous proceedings - it took about seven days for both sides to present their cases - there would not be an "overwhelming" amount of records to sort through.
As for the motion to change venues, Bufkin argued Griffith's case has received an extensive amount of media coverage, including the first trial being live-streamed by a local news station.
"They have covered this case on a routine basis throughout the trial and throughout the period of retrial as well," he said. "We think that there's overwhelming evidence that a change of venue is warranted in this case and it's necessary in order to protect the due process rights of Mr. Griffith."
McGee opposed the motion, arguing pre-trial publicity is not the only factor in determining whether to grant a change in venue.
"The sole issue is whether the public opinion is aroused as to preclude a fair trial," he said.
McGee cited several past cases that received extensive coverage, including a capital case that was tried four times in McCracken County, and juries were seated without issue.
Kaltenbach denied the motion, stating the case is now two years old and has not been in the news every day for a significant period of time. The judge added he would reconsider his ruling if they should run into trouble seating a jury for Griffith's case.
Following the hearing, Bufkin said he was disappointed by the rulings.
Kaltenbach scheduled a final pre-trial hearing for Jan. 25 to address any final motions.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
In circuit court Monday, Judge Tim Kaltenbach denied Griffith's motions to move the case to another county and delay his trial.
Griffith faces a capital murder charge, and others, after his wife was found dead last year in their burned Reidland home. He is accused of shooting her and setting fire to their house with her and their two dogs inside.
Griffith was tried earlier this year, but a mistrial was declared when the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.
In court Monday morning, Griffith's attorney, Michael Bufkin, of the public defender's office capital trial branch in LaGrange, argued the defense's position on four motions filed last week, including those for a change of venue and postponement.
Bufkin said he and public defender Chris McNeill need more time to prepare the case. Their motion states there are more than 1,000 pages of trial transcripts and more than 1,200 pages of discovery, as well as 83 CDs and DVDs, to sort through.
Bufkin also wrote he and McNeill need more time to conduct interviews and complete their own investigation.
"We believe that we have to have additional time in order to provide Mr. Griffith with the level of due process and the level of effective assistance of counsel that is required by the Constitution of Kentucky and by the Constitution of the United States," Bufkin said. "I think the facts are just too overwhelming to ignore, and that is the amount of material that has to be covered between now and Feb. 2 and the pace at which we've been able to cover this material. It's just outpacing our resources and we're just simply not getting it done."
"We filed this motion reluctantly, judge," he continued. "It's not a motion that we're filing frivolously or without a great deal of thought. We've met and discussed this at length as to whether or not we can complete all of this by Feb. 2 and we're just not able to do it."
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Raymond McGee opposed the motion, arguing his office will be ready to try the case as planned.
"We put (the case) together for trial in a fairly short period of time last time considering the amount of evidence," he said. "It did take several weeks to prepare and get it ready for the trial, but we're still just in December and the trial is in February."
Kaltenbach agreed with the commonwealth, stating in a trial as short as Griffith's previous proceedings - it took about seven days for both sides to present their cases - there would not be an "overwhelming" amount of records to sort through.
As for the motion to change venues, Bufkin argued Griffith's case has received an extensive amount of media coverage, including the first trial being live-streamed by a local news station.
"They have covered this case on a routine basis throughout the trial and throughout the period of retrial as well," he said. "We think that there's overwhelming evidence that a change of venue is warranted in this case and it's necessary in order to protect the due process rights of Mr. Griffith."
McGee opposed the motion, arguing pre-trial publicity is not the only factor in determining whether to grant a change in venue.
"The sole issue is whether the public opinion is aroused as to preclude a fair trial," he said.
McGee cited several past cases that received extensive coverage, including a capital case that was tried four times in McCracken County, and juries were seated without issue.
Kaltenbach denied the motion, stating the case is now two years old and has not been in the news every day for a significant period of time. The judge added he would reconsider his ruling if they should run into trouble seating a jury for Griffith's case.
Following the hearing, Bufkin said he was disappointed by the rulings.
Kaltenbach scheduled a final pre-trial hearing for Jan. 25 to address any final motions.
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
