Story Published:
Jul 7, 2009 at 5:38 PM EST
Story Updated:
Jul 7, 2009 at 5:59 PM EST
EVANS, Ga. - A mother and son charged with murder will most likely be tried separately.
Tuesday a judge heard pretrial motions in the murder case of Laverne "Kay" Parsons.
Christopher Bowers is accused of beating Parsons to death in March in her Grovetown home.
Investigators say his mother, Rebecca Sears, plotted the crime.
NBC Augusta 26 News' cameras were the only ones in the courtroom Tuesday.
Evidence and trial location took center stage in court.
One motion in particular really stirred things up.
"Because it is a view, the defendant has a constitutional right to be present," said defense attorney for Rebecca Sears, Victor Hawk.
"There's no constitutional right for a pretrial visit," said District Attorney Ashley Wright.
The most debated issue in court, whether or not the defendant Sears would be allowed to return to the scene of the crime and walk through Parsons' home with her lawyer.
"Judge I can't tell you how strongly I can state my objection to this motion. Obviously we are very opposed. Pictures have been given as well as diagrams of the layout of the home," said Wright.
But Hawk says his client should be allowed to return to the crime scene.
Hawk says Sears’ visit to the home could help build his defense.
One motion that both sides could agree on made by Christopher Bowers' lawyer, Jacque Hawk, was an intense questionnaire for potential jurors.
"Pretrial publicity is significant in this case. If jurors are exposed to so much material that they made up their minds, it may be hard to select a jury here,” said Hawk.
The pretrial publicity could result in the trial being moved out of town.
Other motions agreed upon include protecting blood and fiber samples from the crime scene that could go through a lot of testing.
Both the defense and prosecution say that much testing could result in potential contamination.
The judge could decide if Sears would be allowed back into Parson's home at the next hearing.
26 News has been told Sears and Bowers will be back in court in six weeks to finish with the pretrial motions.
It will be months before the actual trial begins.
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