{Charleston, West Virginia}...Wednesday afternoon, Judge John T. Copenhaver rejected a guilty plea from convicted Kanawha Valley sniper Shawn Lester, saying it wasn't sufficient punishment for the charges. Copenhaver allowed Lester to withdraw his plea, noting that opens the door to likewise withdrawing his plea in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Copenhaver set a trial date on the federal charges for November 14th. Lester pleaded guilty earlier this year to being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a habitual drug user in possession of a firearm. Lester had been charged with distributing Oxycodone and cocaine near Sissonville from 2005 through March 2011 and with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Under the proposal, Lester's sentence of 10 years on each of two firearms charges would have run concurrently with the state's 40-year sentence for second-degree murder in the August 2003 shooting death of Jeanne Patton. Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Judge Rejects Guilty Plea
{Charleston, West Virginia}...Wednesday afternoon, Judge John T. Copenhaver rejected a guilty plea from convicted Kanawha Valley sniper Shawn Lester, saying it wasn't sufficient punishment for the charges. Copenhaver allowed Lester to withdraw his plea, noting that opens the door to likewise withdrawing his plea in Kanawha County Circuit Court. Copenhaver set a trial date on the federal charges for November 14th. Lester pleaded guilty earlier this year to being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a habitual drug user in possession of a firearm. Lester had been charged with distributing Oxycodone and cocaine near Sissonville from 2005 through March 2011 and with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Under the proposal, Lester's sentence of 10 years on each of two firearms charges would have run concurrently with the state's 40-year sentence for second-degree murder in the August 2003 shooting death of Jeanne Patton. 