Jury Selection

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A former Jefferson County Sheriff's Department officer testified in Raymond Hoak's murder trial Thursday that he thought at one point that the shooting of Larry G. Hose might have been justified. Sam Harmon, who was a detective for the sheriff's department, did not elaborate about what made him think that the shooting may have been justified. Hoak, of Route 3, Kearneysville, W.Va., was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the 2003 shooting death of Hose outside a Jefferson County nightclub.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Jury selection is expected to begin at 9 a.m. today in Berkeley County Circuit Court in the trial of a man allegedly hired to kill Debbie K. Bivens of Inwood, W.Va., in August 2005. In a pretrial hearing Monday for Timothy Charles Odell, 23rd Judicial Circuit judge Christopher C. Wilkes decided to allow a suicide note - apparently written by the man who hired the accused - to be introduced to the jury as part of the state's case. The jury is expected to be selected from a pool of 50 people.

The trial of a man accused of killing his 70-year-old mother will likely not take place until 2012 and could take up to three weeks, according to discussions Friday between the prosecution, defense and Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Walsh. Marcus Wallace, 40, could face the death penalty if convicted in the death of Consuela Wallace. She suffered a depressed skull fracture when someone forced their way into her Hamilton Township home on Dec. 10, 2009, according to court records.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Convicted murderer Ralph Manna pleaded not guilty in Common Pleas Court here Wednesday to charges related to the shooting of a Washington Township, Pa., man in the victim's home on Jan. 6, 1997. Manna was charged in Pennsylvania with attempted murder, aggravated assault and burglary, said Franklin County District Attorney Jack Nelson. That same night he fatally shot Linda Delauter, 53, of Myersville, Md., when she opened her front door, according to court records.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com After deliberating for half an hour, jurors found Thursday that the man convicted of wounding a West Virginia State Police trooper was the same person convicted of several prior charges. That finding means that under the state's "three strikes" law, David Eugene Munday will be sentenced to serve life in prison. Munday, 38, of Hedgesville, W.Va., showed no reaction as Circuit Judge David Sanders read aloud the verdict. In October, Munday was found guilty of 21 charges related to the shooting of West Virginia State Police Trooper R.J. "Bobby" Elswick.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com Several last-minute issues - including whether an attorney should be removed - were handled during a pre-trial hearing Wednesday for David E. Munday, the man convicted of shooting a West Virginia State Police trooper once in the head. Munday, 38, of Hedgesville, W.Va., asked on Monday that one of his two defense attorneys, Robert Barrat, be removed from the case because he did not feel Barrat had his best interests at heart. On Wednesday, however, Munday told Circuit Judge David Sanders that he now wants Barrat to remain on the case.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. ? An attorney accused of killing his ex-wife last year and dumping her dismembered body in a western Berkeley County, W.Va., stream in suitcases he bought from Wal-Mart might testify in his own defense. "It's my intention, probably, to testify ... But I will make that decision at the appropriate time," Stephen R. Fielder told 23rd Judicial Circuit judge David H. Sanders on Thursday at his pretrial hearing. Fielder, 59, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., was indicted in February 2007 on one count of first-degree murder in the death of 47-year-old Debra Ann Fielder.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - An attorney accused of killing his ex-wife last year and dumping her dismembered body in a western Berkeley County, W.Va., stream in suitcases he bought from Wal-Mart might testify in his own defense. "It's my intention, probably, to testify ... But I will make that decision at the appropriate time," Stephen R. Fielder told 23rd Judicial Circuit judge David H. Sanders on Thursday at his pretrial hearing. Fielder, 59, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., was indicted in February 2007 on one count of first-degree murder in the death of 47-year-old Debra Ann Fielder.

HAGERSTOWN A 17-year-old boy who was shot in the chest and hand at his sister's Hagerstown apartment told Washington County Circuit Court jurors Thursday that Musliman "Mizzah" Clark chased him and fired a gun at him after she knocked down the door to the apartment on a November 2005 afternoon. The boy, Timothy Jerome Thomas Jr., was one of nine prosecution witnesses who took the stand Thursday on the first day of a trial for Clark, 25, who is charged with attempted first-degree and attempted second-degree murder and first-degree and second-degree assault in the 3:56 p.m. shooting at 13 S. Cannon Ave. on Nov. 22, 2005.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Potential jurors called for a case involving a man charged with killing his dog by tying it to a set of railroad tracks were asked a variety of animal-related questions Wednesday, including whether they hunt, own any pets or had ever been bitten by a dog. Nearly five hours was spent whittling a group of 38 potential jurors to a panel of 12 for the trial of Richard William Faircloth, 30,...