"Prosecutors in
Curtis Lovelace's first-degree murder case have filed paperwork opposing
his request to receive free transcripts from his first trial held
earlier this year. In a 13-page filing with the Adams
County circuit clerk's office, Julia Wykoff, an assistant special
prosecutor for the state, said there were several reasons why the state
was opposed to Lovelace receiving the transcripts at no cost.
Wykoff
said Lovelace has not been pronounced indigent by the court. In an
affidavit of assets and liabilities filed March 8, Lovelace claimed to
have assets of $179,000, including a home valued at $177,000 at 2025
Maine, and $188,200 in liabilities, most of which was a mortgage. Wykoff
questioned how Lovelace could claim to be indigent but also tell the
court that he would be able to post bond if it were lowered to $1
million from its current $5 million. "(The)
defendant has, for all practical purposes, represented to the Court
that he has assets in the amount of $100,000, which defies the sworn
affidavit of assets and liabilities, attached to the defense's motion,"
Wykoff wrote. Wykoff also said that Lovelace has more than $10,000 available to him through an Internet fundraiser. Wykoff
said the state would like Judge Bob Hardwick to rule on the issue of
Lovelace's indigency before he determines if Lovelace should be able to
get the state to pay for trial transcripts. Wykoff
wrote that while the University of Chicago-based Exoneration Project is
handling Lovelace's case for free, that didn't mean his new counsel "is
without resources or funds to assist with the presentation of defenses
in causes that the organizations (sic) opts to undertake." Jon Loevy, a lawyer with the Exoneration Project, wrote that Lovelace "has no more money to spend on any aspect of his defense.".........Loevy
was unavailable for comment Tuesday. He entered his appearance on
Lovelace's behalf along with his Exoneration Project co-worker, Tara
Thompson, this month. Former Adams County Chief Public Defender Ed Downey also is helping defend Lovelace. The
defense's motion for free transcripts as well as a motion to reduce
bond will be heard at a May 6 hearing before Hardwick in Adams County
Circuit Court. Lovelace, 47, is accused of
suffocating his first wife, Cory D. Lovelace, with a pillow on Feb. 14,
2006.
See previous post of this Blog at the link below: "Curtis Lovelace: Illinois: Second trial for former football star set to begin on July 25th hinges on a pivotal question: Is Curtis Lovelace responsible for his wife's untimely death - or, as the defence contends, did no crime occur because she died of natural causes from health problems caused by chronic alcoholism and bulimia. "Dr. Michael Baden, a pathologist with a national reputation, testified that it is his opinion Cory Lovelace died from suffocation with a pillow. But Dr. Shaku Teas, a forensic pathologist from the Chicago area who initially was contacted in March 2014 by police during the reinvestigation, said it's her opinion no crime occurred. "There is no (criminal) case here," Dr. Teas said, indicating that she would have found that Cory Lovelace died from chronic alcoholism."
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