Murder trials cost taxpayers less than anticipated

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HANCOCK COUNTY — Offering plea deals to two men accused of murder saved taxpayers as much as $17,000 that would have gone toward their trials.

Three murder cases opened in 2016 have closed — two of the defendants accepted plea deals, and a jury found another man guilty — and the proceedings didn’t cost as much as prosecutors anticipated.

In September, the county council set aside $20,000 to cover the cost of three upcoming murder trials prosecutors worried they couldn’t afford. Those expenses dropped dramatically — with officials dipping into the fund for just $3,000 — after two of the defendants pleaded guilty ahead of trial.

Still, the request sparked discussion among council members about whether the county should set aside more funding to pay for high-profile cases in the future.

Prosecutors rely on expert testimony to prove their cases in court; for cases that go to trial, experts can be on the stand for hours of questioning and must be compensated for their time and effort.

Historically, the county has budgeted $5,000 per year to pay those witnesses, said Shelli Poppino, director of operations for the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office.

In the past, that’s easily covered the one murder case the office might see every two or three years, she said.

In 2016, however, four men were charged with murder in three Hancock County slayings, and some officials fear the uptick might be a trend.

When Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton came to the council last fall, less than $1,000 remained in the account, and trials were lined up through the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017.

As prosecutors worked through the cases, Eaton worried he might not have enough money to pay experts to testify if the cases went to trial.

So the council looked to the county’s food and beverage tax fund, which is funded by a tax charged to diners at local restaurants and can be tapped for a variety of county expenses.

Eaton joked council members and taxpayers should be happy closing the cases didn’t cost nearly as much as he thought, but councilwoman Martha Vail questioned whether the county needs to start budgeting more funding for the prosecutor’s office to pay for cases in the future.

In the past three years, four murder cases, including Coleman’s, have gone to trial. Expert witnesses in those cases cost the county an estimated $26,500 — about $10,000 more than what would have been budgeted in a three-year period, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“The bottom line is we’ve had an extensive need for these types of witnesses to be able to try these kind of cases effectively,” Eaton said. “It does put a strain on our resources.”

As a result of more high-profile cases being filed, Poppino budgeted $10,000 for expert testimony in 2017, she said.

With just one murder trial on the court docket, $10,000 should cover the costs, but if one or two more murder cases land on the prosecutor’s desk, the office could be short again, Eaton said.

More adjustments to the budget could be necessary as officials face what might be a new reality in Hancock County, Eaton said.

“The bottom line is we’ve had an extensive need for these types of witnesses to be able to try these kind of cases effectively,” Eaton said. “It does put a strain on our resources.”

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Nine people have been charged with murder in Hancock County the past three years, and four of those cases resulted in a murder trial that required the prosecutor’s office to pay for experts to testify. Here’s what those experts cost taxpayers:

  • Joe Meyers was found guilty of killing Katrina Miller in November 2014. The trial’s cost to the prosecutor’s office was about $16,300. 
  • Amanda Gonzales was found guilty of killing Katrina Miller in August 2015. The trial’s cost to the prosecutor’s office was about $2,200.
  • Matthew Wagoner was convicted of murder in the death of his daughter, Zoey Wagoner, in February 2016. The trial’s cost to the prosecutor’s office was about $4,900.
  • Damian Coleman was convicted of murder in the death of Shannon Kitchens last month. The trial’s cost to the prosecutor’s office was about $2,950.

Source: Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office

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