Monday, April 26, 1999
Death-penalty trial to begin
Potential jurors will be asked about their views
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — The first death penalty case to be tried in Kenton County in about two years is expected to begin Tuesday, but it could take weeks for Freddie Scott Furnish to learn whether he'll be convicted and perhaps sentenced to death.
Attorneys on both sides said there are natural safeguards built into capital murder trials, which automatically call for lengthier proceedings.
Jury selection alone is expected to last more than two days, and testimony isn't expected until at least the end of the week.
“There are extra protections built into the system because of the finality of the death sentence,” said Mike Folk, one of the three public defenders for Mr. Furnish.
The 31-year-old Covington man with a history of burglary convictions was arrested June 28. That was three days after the body of Jean Williamson, 66, was found in the bathtub of her Calumet Court home in Crestview Hills.
Her housekeeper had discovered the body. Police arrived to find ransacked jewelry boxes but no sign of forced entry. They turned to Mr. Furnish when they discovered a receipt on Ms. Williamson's kitchen table. It had Mr. Furnish's name on it for cleaning her carpet a month before.
In court documents, Kenton Commonwealth Attorney Don Buring says Mr. Furnish used Ms. Williamson's debit card within minutes after her slaying. He used the cash and traded Ms. Williamson's jewelry to buy crack cocaine, according to court documents.
'88 death penalty
Mr. Buring announced that he would seek the death penalty last summer, even though Kenton County jurors have demonstrated a tendency to sidestep that option since 1988.
That's when Gregory Wilson was sentenced to Kentucky's death row for the murder, rape and robbery of Covington resident Deborah Pooley. He is awaiting appeals.
Given that backdrop, jury selection in Mr. Furnish's trial will be key. Jurors will be responsible for deciding whether Mr. Furnish committed murder on June 25 and, if they convict him, whether he should receive the death penalty.
An individual question-and-answer period that attorneys use to figure out whom they would like to excuse from their case is required in capital murder trials. That means attorneys will spend an average of 10 minutes with every potential juror in order to gauge his stance on capital punishment.
Mr. Buring and Mr. Folk agree that those who lean to one extreme or the other on this issue are likely to be excused.
The defense team, which also includes public defenders Mary Rafizadeh and Bill Spicer, has been struggling to get Kenton Circuit Judge Steve Jaeger to consider life without parole as a sentencing option. A new law implemented in July 1998 made that an option, but Judge Jaeger has denied their request because Ms. Williamson's slaying took place a month before its start-up date.
His stance is contrary to decisions made in at least two other counties. The defense team filed a petition with the Kentucky Supreme Court to have Mr. Furnish's trial delayed until after there has been a clear decision on whether the new sentencing option is possible for those who are accused of committing a crime before the new law went into effect. The petition was denied.
Killers spared
Meanwhile, Kenton County jurors have been reluctant to impose a death sentence.
A jury spared the life of Thurman Richard Hitch, who pleaded guilty to the 1993 rape and murder of Fanny Forte. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 25 years.
Carlos Faulkner received the same sentence. He was convicted of killing Lesly Briede in Fort Wright in 1992.
Mr. Furnish also has been charged with burglary, robbery, theft, receiving goods by fraud and being a persistent felon.
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