Prosecutors want to go back to court with Clara Louise Edwards, a Ringgold, Ga., woman accused of killing her foster child.
On Feb. 18, a jury in Catoosa County Superior Court convicted Edwards, 60, of cruelty to children, a charge that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The jury also found Edwards not guilty of malice murder, but it failed to reach a verdict on felony murder – the killing of somebody while committing a felony, regardless of whether the slaying was intentional.
Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr. scheduled Edwards’ sentencing hearing on the cruelty to children charge for March 25.
Saharah WeatherspoonBut Alan Norton, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit assistant district attorney, is asking Van Pelt to push that sentencing hearing back. Before the judge decides how long Edwards will go to prison for cruelty to children, Norton wants to bring her back to court for a new trial on the felony murder charge, which he can do since the first jury did not reach a verdict.
“Conducting a sentencing hearing on the offense Cruelty to Children in the First Degree, during the pendency of the offense of Felony Murder, is an inefficient use of judicial resources,” Norton wrote in his motion, filed Feb. 24. “Should the Defendant, after lawful retrial, be convicted of the offense of Felony Murder, the Court would be obligated to merge the conviction for Cruelty to Children in the First Degree with the conviction for Felony Murder.”