Court cases have been delayed again, even a murder trial.
Tennessee has halted most in-person court proceedings through Jan. 29 due to the surge in statewide COVID cases. In addition, all jury trials scheduled through Feb. 26 will be postponed due to the difficulty in keeping jurors socially distanced.
“We had a murder trial set for January and it’s going to be delayed,” said District Attorney General Lisa Zavogiannis referring to the murder trial of Wesley “Lex” Leverett. “It’s no one’s fault, and I appreciate the Tennessee Supreme Court for trying to keep everyone safe, but it’s going to take us awhile to catch up.”
Leverett’s trial was scheduled to begin Jan. 29. He is currently out on bond after reportedly confessing to police that he killed his friend, Barry Cole, in February 2017. Leverett reportedly stabbed Cole in the back, cut his throat, and beat him with a table leg.
Leverett’s bond was reduced from $1 million to $30,000 in August because he has already served three years in jail awaiting trial. He made bond and is currently not incarcerated.
Zavogiannis said COVID has been extremely challenging for the court system.
“It feels like I’m spinning my wheels,” Zavogiannis said. “You schedule a hearing and somebody gets quarantined and they can’t show up. Several of my staff have gotten sick and I’m pretty sure they got it in a courtroom. We’re really limited right now on what we can do.”
A few in-person hearings are taking place, but they are primarily for inmates with a few other exceptions. A brief General Sessions docket was heard Tuesday, but it was limited to nine inmates.
Warren County Circuit Court has already reset some of its proceedings. Cases that were previously set to be heard Jan. 13 have been moved to Feb. 3. Circuit Court cases that were set for Jan. 27 have been moved to Feb. 17.