{West Virginia}...An October 26th trial has been set for Shawn Lester, the accused Kanawha County sniper who allegedly shot and killed Gary Carrier, Jeanie Patton and Okey Meadows, Jr., outside three separate convenience stores in August 2003. During his arraignment on the charges Wednesday morning in Kanawha County Circuit Court, Lester pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial. The office of Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants has already turned over 30,000 pages of discovery evidence to Lester's attorney, Kanawha County Public Defender George Castelle. Castelle told Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom he anticipates a significant number of pre-trial motions and one of them may be a motion to move the trial to another county. Prosecutor Plants says he hopes to be able to find a jury in Kanawha County that can hear the highly publicized case, but, in the end, he wants a fair trial for the state and the people of the county. Lester remains in the South Central Regional Jail without bail.
