A former jail worker and bail bondsman received two years probation this morning after accepting a plea of reckless homicide for the 2007 shooting death of a Chattanooga woman.
Floyd Goodwin had pleaded guilty to the crime in February, not knowing that the key witness in the case had died just a week earlier.
Mr. Goodwin’s defense attorney, Bill Pope, learned of the witness’ death just minutes after advising his client to take the plea.
Mr. Pope said this morning that he could have filed a motion to withdraw the plea, but admitted the prosecution had offered a fair resolution, so he and Mr. Goodwin decided not to fight the issue.
Prosecutors are not necessarily obligated to share everything they know about a case to the defense unless that information could serve to exonerate the defendant, legal experts say.