Mother accused of murder returned to court for pretrial hearing
NORWICH – A woman accused of killing her adopted son appeared in court Friday.
Heather Franklin, who has been out on $125,000 cash bail since April, appeared for a pretrial hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to take her case to trial. Her co-defendant and husband Ernest Franklin is being held in jail without bail.
The couple is charged with second-degree murder, a class A-1 felony; third-degree arson, a class C felony; and tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony.
Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride said, "Mrs. Franklin had her pretrial hearings, at that time the court is to make a determination on whether or not there is reasonable cause to issue the search warrants, and we had the burden of showing that the statements that were made to any law enforcement personnel were voluntarily made." He went on to say he believes both of those burdens were met.
Appearing in court, Chenango County Sheriff's Detective John Fern testified Friday that police had probable cause before conducting a search of the couple private property. He claimed information from an autopsy indicated the cause of death was not consistent with an accidental fire, and so police moved forward with a criminal investigation.
Michael Trosset, Heather Franklin's defense attorney, argued investigators had not established proper probable cause before executing the warrants. He cited police reports. "I do not think the people have a case. Ideally it should be dismissed. That is our hope. If not, we are going to continue to work and establish our case that there is certainly reasonable doubt here and what they are saying did not occur," he said.
Heather Franklin and her husband Ernest stand accused of killing their adopted son, Jeffrey, during the early morning hours of March 1.
Prosecution and Chenango County Sheriff's Detective John Fern, say the two watched a movie called "Manchester by the Sea." The main character in the movie accidentally burns down his home and kills his children without being charged by police. Fern was the only witness brought to testify against Heather Franklin on Friday.
According to different court documents, police believe that the Franklins worked together to kill Jeffrey and set fire to their home after watching the movie.
The next step will be for a judge to decide if the cases against both Franklins are strong enough to go to trial. If so, the trials will likely take place in the early months of 2018.
Heather Franklin, who has been out on $125,000 cash bail since April, appeared for a pretrial hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to take her case to trial. Her co-defendant and husband Ernest Franklin is being held in jail without bail.
The couple is charged with second-degree murder, a class A-1 felony; third-degree arson, a class C felony; and tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony.
Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride said, "Mrs. Franklin had her pretrial hearings, at that time the court is to make a determination on whether or not there is reasonable cause to issue the search warrants, and we had the burden of showing that the statements that were made to any law enforcement personnel were voluntarily made." He went on to say he believes both of those burdens were met.
Appearing in court, Chenango County Sheriff's Detective John Fern testified Friday that police had probable cause before conducting a search of the couple private property. He claimed information from an autopsy indicated the cause of death was not consistent with an accidental fire, and so police moved forward with a criminal investigation.
Michael Trosset, Heather Franklin's defense attorney, argued investigators had not established proper probable cause before executing the warrants. He cited police reports. "I do not think the people have a case. Ideally it should be dismissed. That is our hope. If not, we are going to continue to work and establish our case that there is certainly reasonable doubt here and what they are saying did not occur," he said.
Heather Franklin and her husband Ernest stand accused of killing their adopted son, Jeffrey, during the early morning hours of March 1.
Prosecution and Chenango County Sheriff's Detective John Fern, say the two watched a movie called "Manchester by the Sea." The main character in the movie accidentally burns down his home and kills his children without being charged by police. Fern was the only witness brought to testify against Heather Franklin on Friday.
According to different court documents, police believe that the Franklins worked together to kill Jeffrey and set fire to their home after watching the movie.
The next step will be for a judge to decide if the cases against both Franklins are strong enough to go to trial. If so, the trials will likely take place in the early months of 2018.
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