Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Re-trial Delayed In Charleston Murder

{Charleston, West Virginia}...In December 2009, Rhonda Stewart, 56, of Elkview, was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of her husband, Sammy Stewart. Stewart shot her estranged husband at CAMC Memorial Hospital. An appeal was filed with the Supreme Court, and Rhonda Stewart was granted a retrial scheduled for October 9th. Wednesday, her attorney, Howard Salsberry, asked for the trial to be delayed again, telling Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman that the defense team needed additional time to bring in an expert to test the gun allegedly used in the 2009 shooting and to make a psychiatrist from Arizona available to testify. Prosecutors objected to the motion because they believed Stewart's lawyers have plenty of time to get the gun tested before October. Judge Kaufman granted the delay and scheduled Stewart to be back in court on September 13th to set a new trial which is expected to take place in January 2013. Stewart remains on home confinement.