APHarvey Updyke will eventually go on trial for his alleged involvement in poisoning the oak trees at Toomer’s Corner. It just won’t be any time in the near future.
Following Updyke’s alleged “confession” to The Auburn Plainsman, Lee County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Walker granted a continuance in the case this morning. The reasoning? The jury pool had been exposed to enough news through media and friends that they were officially tainted.
“We had a very unusual set of circumstance that occurred at the Justice Center Tuesday,” Walker said
Walker added that he would entertain the defense’s request for a change of venue at a later date.
Updyke’s attorney, Everett Wess, claims his client did not admit guilt to any reporters this week and added that Updyke wanted to continue the trial.
“Harvey’s shaken,” Wess, said. “This has been very stressful for him. He wanted to go through the process, but as his counsel, we advised him that this was the best course of action.”
Just plead guilty you dumb hick. For all practical purposes, you already have.
By the counsel advising him not go thru the process.These lawyers sure can find ways to rape the taxpayers of their money.Let him go to court and get it over with.He should try crawling under a rock with his counsel.
Change of venue to where?? I can’t imagine anyone in Alabama who doesn’t know about this nut and his confessions on the radio and now to a newspaper reporter. Good grief!
Wess, said. “He wanted to go through the process, but as his counsel, we advised him that this was the best course of action.”
TRANSLATION: The sooner this goes to trial, the less money we make because we stop billing the guy, especially since we all know he did it and he even confessed to it.
I have no doubt about his guilt but how can he get a fair trial when over half of the jurors have admitted that they had rolled the trees in the past. Best thing is for him to plead guilty and hope for the best from the judge who is also an Auburn fan. Needs a change of venue but it would have to be out of State.
Is Updyke the latest Alabama j0ke ?
He said he did this to Auburn because he has ” too much Bama in him” and now his lawyer says his brain has a defect.
Is that what happens when you get too much Bama in you ?
Deb said:
“Change of venue to where?? I can’t imagine anyone in Alabama who doesn’t know about this nut and his confessions on the radio and now to a newspaper reporter. Good grief!”
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Oh, now, Deb, you’re smarter than that. I’ve always been amazed at the pool of jurors that can be put together in any place you can name that are so ignorant of any news whatsoever that you can get a jury of folks who haven’t “prejudged” the case.
They could cut right down to the chase if they just asked moviegoers who just watched “Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter” if they thought if the movie was based on true historical facts. They say “Yes”, and into the jury pool they’d go.
@dmcgrann …
What is up with that movie? It’s like a comedy sketch from SNL: Some idiot will pretend to pitch a movie about Lincoln being a vampire hunter. How hilarious is that? But not only did someone actually pitch that storyline, someone actually financed the project. And it will probably become a blockbuster. Makes me fret for the fate of the human race.
You’re right. If they can find an audience for that film–and some probably will think it’s historically accurate–they can find jurors who haven’t prejudged this case.
Sigh …
Updyke is either a huge idiot or an incredible genius. It was he who put the cops on his trail when he called the Paul Finebaum Show two months after he claims he poisoned the trees and let the whole world know about it. He has called back to Finebaum against his then-attorney’s advice and all but confessed, leading his attorney to drop him. He has also defied his current attorney by speaking to a reported for the Auburn student newspaper and again essentially confessing. He continues to show up at Alabama games despite the university telling him that he is not welcome anywhere near campus or any school function. And he in general keeps showing up in the news. Stupid, right?
Or maybe not. Updyke’s actions has already caused several delays in the trial, and his latest activity has caused not only another delay until October, but also has the judge admitting that the jury pool in Lee County is so contaminated from his publicity and polarizing behavior that a change of venue could be in order. This will delay the trial for more months or even years as a new venue is selected, and even then there is the major question as to whether there is even a county in Alabama where one could reasonably expect to seat an impartial jury. Updyke, meanwhile, remains a free man living in Louisiana. It’s quite possible he could either run out the clock and croak before he is ever brought to trial, or he may outlast the Lee County DA’s patience until he either gives him a mild plea deal just to bring it to an end or drops the case altogether as not being worth the time and expense. Could Updyke in the end be an evil genius who gets the last laugh on everyone?
Updyke = Sandusky