DALE COUNTY, Ala (WDHN) — Convicted killer Coley McCraney lost his first battle with the Alabama courts to get his conviction overturned.
The Alabama Appellate Court brought down the decision upholding McCraney’s conviction on Friday, September 20.
Despite his conviction being upheld, McCraney’s lead attorney, David Harrison, says this is far from over.
Harrison tells WDHN they will file with the appellate court again to get his conviction overturned, and if that doesn’t work, they will go to the Alabama Supreme Court and then the United States Supreme Court.
“This fight isn’t over,” Harrison said.
McCraney was found guilty of capital murder last April in the 1999 summer deaths of JB Beasley and Tracie Hawlett.
The teens, both 17, were found shot to death in Beasley’s Mazda 929 on Herring Avenue in Ozark.
After the teen’s bodies were found, investigators from several departments worked around the clock to find the killer, but after exhausting all leads, the case went cold….for twenty years.
In 2019, Ozark Police reopened the case, and using new technology to get a DNA match, investigators linked McCraney, a truck driver and local pastor, to the murder.
He was found guilty after a nine-day trial in Ozark and sentenced to life in prison.
In his appeal, McCraney accused presiding Judge William Filmore of “judicial misconduct,” saying Judge Filmore was prejudiced when he told the defense team they were trying “to confuse the jury” during testimony.
Judge Filmore denied McCraney the chance at a new trial nearly two months after his conviction.
Stay with WDHN for updates.
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Publish date : 2024-09-20 09:13:00
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