Now it is clear what Judge Forrest Bridges was up to last week. He fast-tracked the seating of a jury and put off the question of a second suspect, roping the matter off from that jury. Instead Bridges himself will vet William Richardson’s tale that Octavious Elmore told Richardson that he committed the murders for which Demeatrius Montgomery is on trial.
Jailhouse snitching is always dicey stuff — but there is a giant disconnect in this deal which must be addressed. As WCNC reports:
Elmore and Richardson were both arrested on charges unrelated to each other in April 2008 and shared time in the same jail pod. Richardson says Elmore bragged again that he had killed two cops during that time.
Prosecutors say Richardson is a liar. They say that he is seeking help with robbery charges.
Prosecutors also say it’s unlikely that Elmore would confide in Richardson because the two are rival gang members.
Back up. How does blowing up the prosecution’s biggest case in a decade help Richardson with robbery charges? That is backwards. Also, if Richardson is just looking for some grease, why did Arvin Fant deep-six the info — or did the DA’s office itself decide Richardson was full of it, and unworthy of any investigation — or any disclosure to the defense?
Things are not exactly adding up. And Judge Bridges as already indicated a willingness to “even-up” things, as evidenced by his ruling which took the death penalty off the table, but allowed the trial to advance. Now is Judge Bridges setting up to call no-harm no-foul on the Richardson evidence? That the Richardson claim was so much nothing that it does not matter if Fant and the DA somehow neglected to provide that thread to the defense?
