MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont judge presiding over the expected retrial of a death row inmate has issued an order apparently taking both the prosecution and defense to task.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford issued the order Tuesday, saying “I expect that mentioning the need to maintain good professional relations once will suffice.” The Rutland Herald reports Crawford is presiding over the expected retrial of Donald Fell in the death of Terry King. He noted that the lawyers’ relationship has frayed a little.
Fell was sentenced to death in 2006. His conviction was overturned in 2014 when Fell’s attorneys found a juror conducted an investigation and shared findings.
The process of reducing a jury pool of about 700 to a size that lawyers can question individually began Tuesday.
Final questioning is scheduled for next month.