Michael YoungerCLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Michael Younger, one of three suspects in the 1999 Valentine's Day triple slaying in Cleveland, is expected to go free today.
On Monday, Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood signed off on a request by Steve Crump, district attorney for the 10th Judicial District, to drop the current set of indictments against Younger in connection with the slayings of Oriental "O.J" Blair, Cayci Higgins and Dawn Rogers.
"I'll be finalizing the paperwork with Bradley County Criminal Court on Tuesday morning," said Susan Shipley, defense attorney for Younger.
Once that occurs, Younger should be released from custody, she said.
A hearing scheduled for Monday to listen to defense arguments to dismiss the case against Younger was canceled.
The intent of the request to dismiss the indictments against Younger is to give the DA's office a chance to thoroughly review the evidence and move forward with a case that has "a cleaner procedural history," Crump said.
"We want to step back and re-evaluate the evidence," he said.
Crump said the measure to dismiss the current case in favor of re-evaluating the evidence has been discussed with the families of the victims.
The dismissal of the recent indictments against Younger does not mean that his office is "giving up," Crump said.
Shipley praised the district attorney's office for stepping back to review the case's evidence further.
Younger and co-defendants Twanna "Tart" Blair and Maurice Johnson were accused of killing the victims, who were found shot execution-style in a Cleveland apartment.
Johnson was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in 2009 and sentenced to life in prison. He is now seeking post-conviction relief, alleging his original attorneys failed to properly defend him.
In September 2009, Judge Amy Reedy acquitted Blair of especially aggravated burglary and three counts of murder after a jury failed to reach a verdict.
In the case against Blair, prosecutors asserted she was involved in the killings even though she suffered a gunshot wound to the back and was left with the victims.
A 2010 case against Younger ended in a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct.
New indictments were brought against Blair and Younger this spring by former prosecutor Richard Fisher.
In June, the case against Blair was dismissed by Blackwood, who stated Blair had a constitutional right not to be tried for the same crime twice.
Meanwhile, Younger has been in jail ever since the spring indictment.
A number of hearings were held on motions filed on his behalf over the summer.
The most recent motions essentially addressed underlying double jeopardy concerns, Shipley said recently. They were not argued in court because of the cancellation of Monday's hearing.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Contact him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.