FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2011 file photo, Adam Longoria listens to witness testimony during a hearing in Barton County District Court in Great Bend, Kan. Longoria, of Great Bend, is charged with capital murder in the Aug. 2010 death of Alicia DeBolt. Opening statements in Longoria's trial are expected to begin Thursday, March 29, 2012, when the final panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be selected. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, Pool, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2011 file photo, Adam Longoria listens to witness testimony during a hearing in Barton County District Court in Great Bend, Kan. Longoria, of Great Bend, is charged with capital murder in the Aug. 2010 death of Alicia DeBolt. Opening statements in Longoria's trial are expected to begin Thursday, March 29, 2012, when the final panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be selected. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, Pool, File)
FILE - In this undated Aug. 24, 2010, file photo shows Alicia DeBolt, from Great Bend, Kan. On Sept. 7, 2010, Adam Joseph Longoria was charged with capital murder and criminal sodomy in the death of 14-year-old DeBolt whose badly burned body was found behind an asphalt plant where he worked. Opening statements in Longoria's trial are expected to begin Thursday, March 29, 2012, when the final panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be selected. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, File)
GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) ? Attorneys are expected to lay out their case in the trial of a Kansas man accused of killing a 14-year-old girl and burning her body at the asphalt plant where he worked.
Opening statements are set Thursday in the trial of Adam Longoria, 38. The Great Bend man faces life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder in the August 2010 death of Alicia DeBolt. He also is charged with vehicle burglary and theft related to the crime.
To convict him of capital murder, prosecutors must also prove the August 2010 killing of Alicia was done during the commission of aggravating circumstances such as sodomy or attempted rape. The state is not seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors have portrayed Longoria as obsessed with the Great Bend cheerleader.
Defense attorneys have not talked about their defense strategy but suggested during jury selection that jurors must also be able to consider a lesser charge in the death that would not carry a sentence of mandatory life imprisonment without parole. The defense also has the option of delaying its opening statement until the start of the defense case later in the trial.
Prosecutors claim Longoria lured the teen into his vehicle after texting her about a party on the weekend before she would have started her freshman year of high school. Her family reported her missing the next day, setting off a search that ended three days later when her charred body ? with traces of duct tape on her ankles and face ? was found at an asphalt plant just south of Great Bend.
The community was so shaken by the missing girl's death that more than 2,000 people attended a vigil to remember the teen known as "Babygurl."
Jury selection edged closer to completion Wednesday with 44 jurors accepted into the pool after three days of questioning. A panel of 12 jurors and two alternates will be finalized Thursday once attorneys use their rights to dismiss some jury candidates without having to offer a reason.
Testimony in the case is anticipated to stretch into next week. As many as 170 potential state witnesses have been listed, although prosecutors have said they plan to call far fewer than that those to the stand.
Potential jurors were warned during questioning to expect gruesome crime scene photos to be projected onto a screen in the courtroom.
The government also has a trove of text messages Longoria allegedly sent the girl in the weeks leading up to her death, including an exchange the day of her death.
Associated Pressoccupy oakland general strike mike quade mike quade sticks and stones sticks and stones top chef powerball winner
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.