Notes About the Trial - Welcome Eric Friends and Family
Ms. Leslie Dixon, Van Zandt County's prosecutor called me today.
She says Jimmie's atty's have requested lowering of his bail, and there will be a hearing no this issue sometime after 9:00 on Thursday the 26th.
The basis for the request is Jimmie's medical condition, and that the jail authorities somehow missed Jimmie's medical appointment.
Ms. Dixon says the new Judge is good, but Ms. Dixon has no experience with how the Judge will act upon a medical request. Ms. Dixon says if bail is lowered that Jimmie will likely have some additional constraints, such as an ankle radio.
WPS
6/21/03 - 4:15 NY Time
Upon reflection, my opinion is that the Court ought to grant Jimmie whatever medical services he needs, but not lower bail. Jimmie would probably head for Mexico if he was released, and leave his radio attachment on somebody's dog.
Accordingly, I contacted my NY Attorney, Bill Stanton and asked Bill to contact the Judge on our behalf to file a brief petitioning the Judge not to release Jimmie. For those who don't know, Bill is the guy who got Al Sharpton convicted of slander in the Tawana Brawley fiasco. He's very very good.
WPS
Bill contacted the judge and responded back to me. The contents of our conversation will remain private.
On October 28th Ellen, Shannan, Melissa and I attended Jimmie's first hearing. We could not hear because the court's mike was out, but afterwards Ms. Dixon met with us, as did the court's deputy, Mr. Tim McLamee.
Tim says Ms. Dixon is top notch, and won't give up.
Ms. Dixon said the following:
- No plea bargain has yet been asked for
- She's thinking "Life Sentence"
- The defense is likely to try "Self Defense" because Jimmie
is age 54
and a conviction is pretty much equal to a death in prison sentence. (Tim also said that) - If a plea bargain is being considered, Ms. Dixon will contact us before accepting any deal, even though Texas law allows her to do whatever she thinks is fitting.
- Trial is expected to begin March 9th, 2000.,
We expressed our thanks to Ms. Dixon for agreeing to contact us, and our hope that she has success prosecuting Jimmie. Here's a photo of Jimmie Sutton in shackles in Van Zandt County's court.
