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Jury selection for a man facing the potential of the death penalty after being accused for his role in the 2010 death of Bobby Tillman is set to begin Monday morning.
The state is seeking death for 20-year-old Tracen Lamar Franklin in the nationally publicized case where Tillman was beaten and stomped to death outside of a Douglasville house party on Nov. 7, 2010. That night an estimated 60 to 80 people showed up at what was supposed to be a small house party on Independence Drive in the Governor’s Ridge subdivision in western Douglas County.
More than 300 jurors have been ordered to report for duty as the process of empaneling a jury to decide the Franklin’s fate. After a day filed with motion hearings Friday, Douglas County Superior Court Judge Beau McClain denied the defense’s motion seeking get more time to review the data that was used to select the pool. It was the first time a new state system was used.
McClain denied the request for more time for data review, reminding the defense team that they had originally asked for the new system to be used in a motion on May 22.
For Tillman’s family, the beginning of a trial it is yet another painful step towards justice for the fallen young man who was a freshman at Georgia Perimeter College at the time of his death.
“I just want justice,” Bobby Tillman’s mother, Monique Rivarde, said. “I trust Mr. McDade and his staff to do their job. I trust them 100 percent.”
Emanuel Benjamin Boykins, another suspect who had also been facing the potential of the death penalty, agreed in April to a plea deal, pleading guilty to murder and accepting a sentence of life in prison rather than going to trial in which the death penalty was in play.
Life in prison means that Boykins will not be eligible for the possibility of parole for 30 years. Boykins was said to be the one who threw the first punch in the brutal attack on Tillman, with Franklin then joining in. As part of the plea arrangement, Boykins agreed to provide truthful testimony in any subsequent legal proceedings or trials.
Franklin had a similar offer on the table, but had declined to accept the arrangement that would have taken the death penalty off the table in exchange for a guilty plea.
Two other teens, 19-year-old Quantez Devante Mallory and 20-year-old Horace Damon Coleman, were charged in the killing, but they aren’t facing the death penalty. The four were indicted in January by a grand jury on two counts each — Count 1 for malice murder and Count 2 for felony murder.
The prosecution, with Brian Fortner and Bonnie Smith leading the effort with District Attorney McDade, has a witness list that includes 140 names. As many as 80 could be called. Jury selection could take up to two weeks, the defense team led by Bruce Harvey speculated Friday.
The men accused of beating a teen to death outside a party speak out for the first time and offer condolences.
Read more: Douglas County Sentinel
Jury selection for a man facing the potential of the death penalty after being accused for his role in the 2010 death of Bobby Tillman is set to begin Monday morning.
The state is seeking death for 20-year-old Tracen Lamar Franklin in the nationally publicized case where Tillman was beaten and stomped to death outside of a Douglasville house party on Nov. 7, 2010. That night an estimated 60 to 80 people showed up at what was supposed to be a small house party on Independence Drive in the Governor’s Ridge subdivision in western Douglas County.
More than 300 jurors have been ordered to report for duty as the process of empaneling a jury to decide the Franklin’s fate. After a day filed with motion hearings Friday, Douglas County Superior Court Judge Beau McClain denied the defense’s motion seeking get more time to review the data that was used to select the pool. It was the first time a new state system was used.
McClain denied the request for more time for data review, reminding the defense team that they had originally asked for the new system to be used in a motion on May 22.
“I just want justice,” Bobby Tillman’s mother, Monique Rivarde, said. “I trust Mr. McDade and his staff to do their job. I trust them 100 percent.”
Emanuel Benjamin Boykins, another suspect who had also been facing the potential of the death penalty, agreed in April to a plea deal, pleading guilty to murder and accepting a sentence of life in prison rather than going to trial in which the death penalty was in play.
Life in prison means that Boykins will not be eligible for the possibility of parole for 30 years. Boykins was said to be the one who threw the first punch in the brutal attack on Tillman, with Franklin then joining in. As part of the plea arrangement, Boykins agreed to provide truthful testimony in any subsequent legal proceedings or trials.
Franklin had a similar offer on the table, but had declined to accept the arrangement that would have taken the death penalty off the table in exchange for a guilty plea.
Two other teens, 19-year-old Quantez Devante Mallory and 20-year-old Horace Damon Coleman, were charged in the killing, but they aren’t facing the death penalty. The four were indicted in January by a grand jury on two counts each — Count 1 for malice murder and Count 2 for felony murder.
The prosecution, with Brian Fortner and Bonnie Smith leading the effort with District Attorney McDade, has a witness list that includes 140 names. As many as 80 could be called. Jury selection could take up to two weeks, the defense team led by Bruce Harvey speculated Friday.
The men accused of beating a teen to death outside a party speak out for the first time and offer condolences.
Read more: Douglas County Sentinel
