Murder Suspects' Trial Set
HUNTSVILLE - Criminal Court Judge Shane Sexton has set a March 29, 2004, trial date for Charles Ray Harvey and his daughter Vanessa Loredo, accused in the brutal murder of Armando Loredo in July.
The 27-year-old victim, who died of a gunshot wound to the head and whose body was weighted down and dumped in New River, was the son-in-law of Harvey and the husband of Loredo. Both suspects were taken into custody within days of the July 18 discovery of the body.
A first degree murder indictment against Harvey, 48, and Loredo, 22, was handed down by the November term of the Scott County Grand Jury, which convened her last week.
The accused were arraigned before Judge Sexton Friday morning in Criminal Court in separate hearings.
Loredo appeared before Judge Sexton at 10:48 a.m. and her attorney, Andrew Hall of Wartburg, waived a formal reading of the indictment and entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client. Assistant District Attorney General Sarah Davis informed the court that it was reserving its decision about what type of punishment the state would seek in the case.
The March 29 trial date was set by Judge Sexton after a brief discussion with attorneys. Hall had requested additional time to prepare his defense, based on the fact that his client was residing in Indiana (and just visiting in Scott County) at the time of the crime. The State said it would agree to share with Hall the information it had gathered in Indiana, in an effort to expedite the discovery process.
Hall said that he would be asking for a bond reduction hearing and suggested that it be held next Friday morning (Nov. 21). While not agreeing with the date requested, Judge Sexton told Hall that he would "do the best we can to accomodate you."
The hearing lasted just six minutes.
Harvey's arraignment hearing, which began at 11:21, took even less time - just two minutes. Harvey appeared with his newly-appointed attorney Tom Barkley of Jellico, who waived a formal reading of the indictment and entered a not guilty plea for his client. Barkley told the Court that he was agreeable to the March 29 trial date. Harvey was represented by District Public Defender Lief Jeffers up to and through the preliminary hearing phase.
Judge Sexton announced that the deadline for discovery evidence was Feb. 20 for the state and March 5 for the defense.
Harvey and Loredo were bound over to the Grand Jury following a five-hour preliminary hearing in Scott County General Sessions Court on August 13, at which time Harvey was bound over on a first degree murder charge and Loredo for accessory to first degree murder, according to a ruling handed down by Sessions Judge Jamie Cotton.
Fishermen discovered the partially decomposed body of Loredo in New River on July 18, tied up and weighted down. The cause of death was said to have been a gunshot wound to the head. Within days, both suspects were taken into custody by officers of the Scott County Sheriff's Department, Harvey being arrested in Campbell County on July 23 and Loredo being picked up in Clinton on July 28.
Both were initially held in lieu of $1 million bond each, but following the preliminary hearing, Loredo's bond was reduced to $250,000. Neither has been able to make bond, however. Harvey was recently transferred from Scott County Jail in Huntsville to a Tennessee Department of Corrections holding facility (Riverbend) in Nashville. Loredo, meanwhile, who had been confined in a facility in a neighboring county, was subsequently transferred to the Scott County Jail.
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