Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation - February 2007

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:51 pm

*From Mark Lunsford*

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Latest News

INVERNESS Jail guards who may have heard John Evander Couey make incriminating statements should be allowed to testify at his murder trial because the evidence is critical to the case against him, the lead prosecutor said in documents filed Tuesday.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said attempts to block the testimony are extreme and case law supports its use.

Ridgway said the defense was told of the evidence Jan.
11 and has had enough time to review it before Couey is to be tried in the death of 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford.

In one statement, Couey allegedly said heâ€™d never killed anyone until the third-grader was slain. Itâ€™s unclear how many of the seven guards heard that or other incriminating statements.

Assistant Public Defender Dan Lewan last week asked Circuit Judge Ric Howard to block the guardsâ€™
testimony on the grounds he did not have sufficient time to prepare for it.

He also asked Howard to delay Coueyâ€™s trial, now set for Feb. 12 in Miami.

Lewan could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Howard earlier threw out statements Couey made shortly after his arrest, saying Couey asked for but didnâ€™t get an attorney before making them. Statements later made to an investigator and a jail guard are admissible, Howard ruled.

Ridgwayâ€™s filing also said there is no need to delay the trial, adding Lewanâ€™s motion for a continuance fails to specify why he needs the additional time.

Ridgway said the statements to guards are similar to ones Couey made earlier to other people.

Howard may make a ruling this morning.

Couey, a 48-year convicted sex offender, is charged with first-degree murder, sexual battery on a child under 12, kidnapping and burglary with battery.

Authorities say he abducted the Homosassa girl the night of Feb. 23, 2005, carried her 150 yards to a mobile home he shared with other adults, raped her, then buried her alive.

A medical examiner said she died of suffocation.

Contact reporter Jim Tunstall at (352) 628-5558 or jtunstall@tampatrib.com

Now for a few words from me to you about friends

I learned alot about friends when I lost Jessie, and Tammy became
a part of my life. I learned that a friend is someone I trust to be with me when I am at my weakest and most vulnerable. And they are people who, no matter how painful it is to see, are willing to be with me when I am helpless and weak. If I would trust my life with you, and vice versa, we are friends. It's not about whether you are trustworthy, or whether you are friendly, it's the actual act of trust that is the basis of friendship. If I trust you to be truthful, then you're a friend. If I find I must be careful how I say things, then it's something other than friendship. Friendship is not a state of mind, it's an act. It's something you do, it's not about whether you're good or not it's not a reflection of you, it's a balanced relationship between people. That does not mean it's always balanced at every moment. Sometimes you "need a friend" and other times it's the other way. It's a trust that's returned.

When I was younger and thought I was in love, a friend said it's not love unless it's returned. Friendship and love are not quite the same thing, although there's a lot of love around friendship. I learned that love is not even something about two people, it's a state of being for one person. You are not in love, you are love. You are, whether you acknowledge it or not.

One thing I feel needs to be said is that there are many other relationships that are not friendship that are still positive. The world is not divided into two parts; friends and enemies. I choose to think of friend as a very strong word, representing a very close relationship. I think this may be in part due to what I do, because I need a good solid line separating my public life from my personal. A friend is a personal relationship. I like and admire many people who I don't consider friends. Thank you all for the lessons you help me learn by giving your support.

Mark Lunsford

Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation