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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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Walker County grand jury re-indicts Marshes |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Wednesday, 15 February 2006 |
02/15/06
Eric Beavers
A Walker County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Clara and LaShea Marsh again for making false statements on death certificates.
Clara and LaShea Marsh are the mother and sister, respectively, of convicted former Tri-State Crematory operator Brent Marsh.
The jury foreman failed to sign the indictments last Tuesday, so the case against the two women had to be presented again.
Wednesday's indictments added the phrase, said crime being unknown until on or after Feb. 16, 2002, to cement the state's argument that the charges are still within the four-year statute of limitations.
The two women were arrested on the charges nearly four years ago, on March 8, 2002, just weeks after authorities began discovering uncremated remains at Tri-State in the Noble community.
The first remains were discovered on Feb. 15, 2002, and the count reach 334 sets of uncremated remains. Brent Marsh was convicted last year and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Retired Superior Court Judge Coy Temples, of the Conasauga Judicial Circuit, presided over Wednesday's hearing after local judges bowed out of the case.
All four local Superior Court judges disqualified themselves from hearing the criminal case against Brent Marsh due to various connections that created conflicts of interest.
The missing signature from last week's indictment forced grand jurors to hear the evidence again, said Chris Arnt, assistant district attorney for the Marshes in Judicial Circuit.
On Wednesday Arnt said jurors raised more questions about the case in light of Ringgold attorney McCracken Ken Poston's public outcry that the case was out of date and unnecessary.
Poston, attorney for the Marshes, bemoans the cost to local taxpayers of an additional grand jury hearing and the possibility of Marsh relatives appearing once again in court. Arnt said that isn't his concern.
"They (taxpayers) are already paying my salary anyway, whether I'm trying this case or another case. It's the same thing with the judge," he said. "I don't foresee this case as the type of thing that would be an expensive trial."
Regardless of those matters, Arnt said prosecutors don't consider cost when preparing a case.
We don't look at a file and say "Well, this case is going to cost too much," Arnt said. "We can't forget the fact that this person committed whatever crime it is. Our job is not to see the economic impact but to determine if there has been a violation of law."
The emotional wounds tied to the crematory are strained as the Marshes hit the headlines again, but Arnt reiterates that prosecutors must distance themselves from emotion.
"Mr. Poston is the one primarily responsible for dredging up emotions and for repeatedly bringing up the other (criminal) Marsh case," Arnt said. "The district attorney's office is treating this case like any other case."
"The prosecution of criminals is often emotional for victims and witnesses," he said. "This is not a reason to allow criminals to escape punishment for their actions."
During a news conference Monday, Poston presented state documents from an investigation into the crematory's business practices in the early 1990s. Arnt maintains that the basis for the indictments, two improperly signed death certificates, were discovered in 2002 during the criminal investigation of the crematory.
The need for a second grand jury was necessary to ensure guidelines were followed because protocol is critical when seeking indictment. Arnt recalled a double homicide case from the late 1960s or early 1970s that was thrown out of court because procedure was not followed during the grand jury hearing. In that instance, the judge delivered the indictment to the clerk in the clerk's office rather than the courtroom as dictated by law.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=696669&CategoryID=11576&on=1 |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.” Epicurius
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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