March 9, 2016
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
A motion to delay the trial of an accused road-rage killer has been denied. The murder trial of a Texas man believed to have killed two people on Interstate 40 will get underway in June.
District Judge Doug Haught ruled Monday that the trial of 37-year-old Jeremy Doss Hardy will begin on June 13, 2017 as previously set.
Hardy’s defense team had asked the judge for a delay, stating that they weren’t filing the motion for the purpose of delay, but instead “in good faith in order to protect the defendant’s rights under the United States and Oklahoma Constitutions to Due Process, Equal Protection, effective assistance of counsel, right to be free from Cruel and unusual punishment and the right to a fair trial.”
According to the Clinton Daily News, Haught said he selected June 13 because it will be approximately 18 months since the shootings – for which Hardy is to be tried – took place. Haught said he had a set the original trial dates because he had a reason to try the case on that date and that his defense attorneys should be familiar enough with his case by then.
Hardy of Pasadena is charged with a number of felonies including two counts of murder in the first degree.
Hardy is charged with murdering 45-year-old Jeffrey Kent Powell of Clinton and 63-year-old Billie Jean West of Lone Wolf as they all drove west separately on Interstate 40 in December of 2015. Hardy’s random shooting spree spanned four counties and multiple vehicles were shot.
Powell, a father of two, was shot in the back and died in his car with his wife in the passenger seat after Hardy allegedly opened fire upon their vehicle hitting it twice. Powell was said to have been able to utter to his wife, “I’ve been shot.” He died before help could arrive.
West’s body was found in her vehicle on I-40 at Exit 84, near Weatherford’s Airport Road. She was pronounced dead upon arrival after being rushed to nearby Weatherford Regional Hospital by first responders after a day-long shopping trip to Oklahoma City. She’d been shot in the hip. Her VW Beetle was struck three times, according to submitted photos.
Hardy also is charged with assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of use of a vehicle in discharge of a weapon, one count of eluding a police officer and one count of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
After he was captured, he admitted to a trooper that he’d been drinking whiskey shots and beer.
If found guilty, he will be facing the death penalty.
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