Kevin Sweat, who is charged in the slayings of two Weleetka girls and his fiancee, is escorted by Okfuskee County Sheriff Jack Choate on Thursday morning after a motions hearing. SHAKARA SHEPARD/Okemah News Leader
OKEMAH - Kevin Sweat could face a single trial in the killings of two Weleetka girls in 2008 and his fiancée in 2011, which could possibly delay his first-degree murder trial set for June.
Attorneys for Sweat, 27, announced their intentions to file an adjoining motion Thursday morning after Okfuskee County District Judge Lawrence Parish ruled that evidence in the Weleetka case could be used in the trial regarding the slaying of Ashley Taylor.
Defense attorney Wayne Woodyard said the best way to defend Sweat now would be to have one trial, one jury, one location and one sentencing procedure.
The trial in the Taylor case is scheduled to begin June 10 in Bristow in Creek County, where it was moved because of pretrial publicity and the potential difficulty of seating a jury in the sparsely populated Okfuskee County.
But defense attorney Gretchen Mosley said a continuance was being filed because Sweat's legal team has not received a substantial amount of the discovery evidence in the Weleetka case and is not ready to defend it in June.
A hearing on the motions to adjoin the cases and postpone the trial is set for May 15.
Key items of evidence that Parish said he would allow in Taylor's case include a gun case that state troopers found in Sweat's car in 2009, which Okfuskee County District Attorney Max Cook said is linked to the handgun used in the killings of Skyla Whitaker, 11, and Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13.
"The fact that the Glock gun case was found is important chronologically. He still had at least the gun case a year later," Cook said.
Sweat was charged with possession of marijuana as a result of the trooper's stopping him, but he was never charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
Woodyard argued that the gun case has nothing to do with Ashley Taylor's death, but Cook said statements that Sweat allegedly made related to the Weleetka case speak to a motive in the killing of Taylor.
Parish agreed to allow the statements into evidence.
The girls were found June 8, 2008, in a ditch on a rural Okfuskee County road. They had been shot numerous times.
Ashley Taylor was last seen July 15, 2011, after she told her family she was going to Louisiana with Sweat to get married.
Authorities believe that she was killed on or around July 17.
Although the trial will be held in Bristow, all parties have agreed to holding hearings related to the case in Okemah.
To make absolutely sure that Sweat had no problem with any of the changes, Parish asked him to stand and speak for himself.
"Your honor I have no objection whatsoever," Sweat said.
In an effort to eliminate the possibility of a death sentence, Woodyard argued against using the Weleetka killings as aggravating factors in the sentencing phase should Sweat be found guilty of Taylor's murder.
"Until an unadjudicated offense is adjudicated, it's hearsay and doesn't meet the heightened requirement in death cases," he said.
Cook disagreed, saying the Court of Criminal Appeals has addressed the issue.
"Oklahoma says this is allowed," he said. "Yes it will lengthen the trial. ... It will, in essence, be another trial within a trial."
Parish rejected the defense argument.
Susan Hylton 918-581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Joint murder trial sought
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