William Morva trial preparations

By Rosa Duarte

Published: March 3, 2008

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys in the William Morva trial are hoping they have better luck seating a jury in Abingdon.

Morva is accused of killing hospital security guard Derrick McFarland and Sheriff’s Corporal Eric Sutphin in August 2006.

In September 2007, after three days of jury selection a jury could not be seated in Montgomery County, a judge granted a change of venue because of all the attention the case has received. 

Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Brad Finch says jury selection in Abingdon will be similar and will start with a pool of 100 potential jurors, he says the group will then be split up into panels of three for questioning.

They’re expecting the process to last approximately two days.

According to the Washington County clerk’s office in Abingdon, the Morva trial is one of the highest profile cases they’ve seen in the area and it’s very unusual for them to even allow media inside the courtroom.

However court staff won’t be handling it on their own, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office they’ll be sending down extra deputies at the request of the local sheriff’s office to help with security and Morva’s transportation.

The trial is expected to last two weeks with a total of 69 witnesses, no word whether Morva will be one of them.

In a court appearance early February, Morva filed a motion to replace his legal team because he wanted a different group of lawyers to represent him, the judge denied that motion.