Trials scheduled for Good Friday shooting defendants
By BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer on Apr 24, 2013, at 2:06 AM Updated on 4/24/13 at 7:50 AM
Jacob Carl England (left) and Alvin Lee Watts: Each man is accused of shooting five black people at random in north Tulsa on April 6, 2012. Three of the victims died. Five counts of malicious intimidation or harassment on account of race, color, ancestry or national origin are included in the case.
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A Tulsa judge scheduled separate trial dates in 2014 on Tuesday for two men who are charged with murdering three people on Good Friday last year.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both defendants, and prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that Jacob Carl England and Alvin Lee Watts should be tried separately.
The trial for Watts, 34, is set for Feb. 3.
The trial for England, 20, is set for March 3.
First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond indicated that the prosecution could be ready to try the case this fall, and he pushed for a quicker trial date.
District Judge James Caputo, who ordered the severance of the cases, scheduled the 2014 dates.
England and Watts, who are listed as white in court documents, are accused of shooting five black people at random at four north Tulsa locations on April 6, 2012 - Good Friday.
The trials are scheduled almost two years after the shootings.
The two are each charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with an intent to kill and five counts of malicious intimidation or harassment on account of race, color, ancestry or national origin - which is how hate crimes are defined in Oklahoma statutes.
The defendants face murder counts linked to the shootings of Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31.
The two other men who were shot, David Hall and Deon Tucker, survived their wounds.
At a hearing Tuesday, Caputo denied defense lawyers' requests to dismiss the charges based on assertions that insufficient evidence was presented at a preliminary hearing.
Bill Braun 918-581-8455
bill.braun@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Trials slated in killing spree
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