The lawyer representing a woman charged with trying to shoot and kill her ex-husband last summer as he worked in his Signal Mountain chiropractic clinic said she still is reviewing the evidence and indicated a jury trial is not a sure thing.
“We’re not far enough in the process to know if a trial date is going to be necessary,” said attorney Myrlene Marsa, who represents Tina Marie Loher.
The statement made in court during a Monday hearing is indicative that a plea deal could be worked out, but neither Ms. Marsa nor prosecutors gave any details of such a deal.
Ms. Marsa still is in the process of working to get one of two charges of reckless endangerment against Ms. Loher dropped. In the incident last July, Ms. Loher shot her ex-husband at work while their two daughters waited in the car, according to police. The couple was embroiled in a bitter custody battle at the time.
She also is charged with attempted first-degree murder.
Two other women were in the office with the shooting victim, Dr. Terrance “Terry” Loher, and authorities say Ms. Loher endangered their lives when she began shooting. Dr. Loher suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. Another shot that was fired as Dr. Loher wrestled his ex-wife to the floor did not hit anyone, records show.
Ms. Marsa in her motion to dismiss one of the reckless endangerment charges argues that even though two additional people are cited as being present during the shooting, only “one course of conduct” led to the endangerment.
Prosecutor Neal Pinkston on Monday argued that it would be proper to hear all the evidence at a trial and for Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman then to decide whether to drop one of the reckless endangerment charges should a jury convict Ms. Loher.
Judge Steelman said Monday he will study the issue and possibly make a ruling at the next court hearing on March 22.
Ms. Loher appeared briefly in court Monday next to Ms. Marsa. She has been incarcerated since the incident on a $600,000 bond.
Dr. Loher was sitting in a wheelchair during the preliminary hearing last summer and testified about how he had kicked Ms. Loher in the face to keep her from shooting again. He said he was afraid she would “finish the job” if she was allowed to make bond.
THE STORY SO FAR
After police arrested Tina Marie Loher and charged her with trying to kill her ex-husband last summer on Signal Mountain, investigators found diary entries detailing how Ms. Loher believed Dr. Terrance “Terry” Loher to be filled with “demonic spirits.” Dr. Loher escaped the incident alive with only a gunshot wound to the leg. During the preliminary court hearing days after the incident, he asked a Hamilton County General Sessions judge to raise Ms. Loher’s bond for fear that she would “finish the job” if she got out of jail.