Jackson attorneys ask off capital case

A second team of attorneys told a judge Friday that it wants to withdraw from representing a man accused in the September 2010 home-invasion killing of Alexandra Engler and wounding of her young daughter, Ariana, in their Beauregard Town residence.

The Baton Rouge Capital Conflict Office, which took over Aramis Jackson’s case from the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defender’s Office in December 2011, contends it has a conflict of interest with another capital murder case that it is handling in Baton Rouge state court.

David Price, director of the Capital Conflict Office, told state District Judge Tony Marabella that the other case is that of Courtney Williams, 22, who is accused of bursting into a north Baton Rouge home on Sept. 10, 2011, and fatally shooting a former girlfriend — Clarissa Cobbing — and two other women.

Marabella said Friday during a status hearing in the Jackson case that he does not believe there is a conflict, but he scheduled a hearing Feb. 14 on the Capital Conflict Office’s motion to withdraw as Jackson’s counsel.

Ariana’s father, John Adriani, attended Friday’s hearing and said afterward he is not concerned about the latest development in the case.

“As long as he’s in Parish Prison, he’s not going anywhere,” Adriani said of Jackson. “Until he’s had his fair trial, he’s stuck there.”

Adriani also said his daughter is doing “phenomenal.”

Bonnie Hunt, the mother of Alexandra Engler and grandmother of Ariana, also was at the hearing.

Jackson, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 24, 2010, shooting death of Engler, 42, and attempted first-degree murder in the wounding of Ariana, who was 9 at the time and shot multiple times. She is now 11.

Williams is charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.

In documents filed at the 19th Judicial District Courthouse, the Baton Rouge Capital Conflict Office says Jackson’s father — Percy Dyer — is a potential witness in the Jackson case and also is involved in the case against Williams. Dyer is the father of Cobbing’s juvenile child, who is the victim of two alleged kidnappings and an alleged attempted aggravated arson — all allegedly committed by Williams, the BRCCO states.

The BRCCO represents Williams on those charges as well, the documents say.

Police have said the Beauregard Town shootings occurred during a burglary. Jackson became a suspect after the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab linked him to DNA evidence found at the Engler home, police said. Police also said witnesses identified him as the person they saw in the area shortly after the crime carrying a gun and a large flat-screen television believed stolen from the Engler home, police stated.

Comments

1) Comment by josephpaine - 26/01/2013

If you understood an iota about criminal law you would know that it is not the State's right to a speedy trial, but the defendant's. So don't go blaming the District Attorney or his prosecutors. Furthermore, if you understood criminal defense system you would understand the problem looming before Baton Rouge revolves around the lack of funding for the Public Defender's office. We cannot continue properly prosecuting the Aramis Jackson's without providing them with a sound Capital Offense Certified legal team. It is their Constitutional Right. Start looking for this to become a larger problem in the time to come. Until communities, like Baton Rouge, start recognizing the need to fund the Office of the Public Defender, cases such as these will bounce from legal team to legal team without any quick resolution. Use some common sense before attacking the D.A., the judge and the family.

2) Comment by MrVPP - 26/01/2013

We are in our third year of prosecution on this case, or lack of prosecution. I am glad the little girl's dad is not bothered by this delay, because many other families would be enraged. Dragging cases like this out is a tremendous waste of taxpayer money, unless you are a criminal defense attorney getting rich at the taxpayer's coffers.

3) Comment by MissCotillion - 26/01/2013

Good prosecutors push cases to go to trial, but we do not have good prosecutors in this parish. This case and the Grady Crawford case have been languishing for YEARS now-ever since our DA Hillar Moore was elected, and they will continue to drag until he can plead them out. Hillar Moore and Tony Marabella are former law partners.They practiced criminal defense law-Tony Marabella still pulls Hillar Moore around by his ear, in my opinion, so Tony Marabella will make sure this death penalty case drags out and never goes to trial, too. A waste of time and money.

4) Comment by tradewinns - 26/01/2013

only been two years and still hasn't gone to trial. HASN'T GONE TO TRIAL AND THE TAXPAYER IS STILL PAYING LAWYERS, FEEDING THE "SUSPECT", ETC. our justice system is a failure, it doesn't provide justice, it provides tons of money to lawyers.