Saturday, May 08, 2004

Danica Jackson, who shared a Hugh Poland Hall dorm room with slain Western Kentucky University freshman Katie Autry, has been court-ordered to appear as a witness for the defense in the July 30 trial of Lucas Goodrum, a man arrested in connection with Autrys death. Autry was beaten, raped and set on fire in her dorm room on May 4. She died three days later from third- and fourth-degree burns at a hospital in Nashville. Goodrum, 21, of Scottsville, was charged with murder, rape, sodomy and arson alongside 20-year-old Stephen Soules of Scottsville. Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty against both men, but Soules pleaded guilty March 23 in exchange for a sentence of life in prison. He will also testify against Goodrum at the trial. Jackson told police about her phone call to her dorm room at about 2:30 a.m. on May 4, in which she spoke with Soules and heard the voices of another male and Autry in the background, according to previous testimony from Western Kentucky University Police Detective Mike Dowell. The call was verified by phone records, he said. Other witnesses summoned by defense attorney David Broderick include Brian Moon, whose name was found in Soules phone records. In a conference call hearing on Friday with Special Judge Thomas Castlen of Owensboro, Broderick argued in support of his motion to prevent the commonwealth from calling additional expert witnesses at trial. Tracy Kaeff, a technician at the state crime lab in Frankfort, was initially the only expert witness called by prosecutors, though they now also plan to call the pathologist who completed Autrys autopsy report. The trial is nearing, Broderick argued, and he should already have a list of all experts scheduled to testify for the prosecution. It may be lawyer paranoia, but this is a capital case and if theyve got any other experts, I want to know who they are, Broderick said. This cannot be a trial by ambush. Commonwealths Attorney Mike Pearson argued that Broderick was presented with a signed copy of the autopsy report, and that should sufficiently indicate that the author of the report could testify. Broderick, however, insisted he wanted a list of all expert witnesses to be called by prosecutors, and said he would provide a list of his own. Castlen said the Commonwealths Attorneys Office should present the list of expert witnesses by Friday afternoon, though he agreed with Pearsons opinion that the action would be redundant. In another conference call hearing on Tuesday morning, Broderick challenged a motion filed by prosecutors requesting additional hair samples from Goodrum for testing purposes. In that hearing, Kaeff testified via telephone that she needed more than the 12 strands originally collected from the crime scene. The rape kit calls for at least 15, the FBI paper that Ive found calls for approximately 25 full-length hairs and the trace unit generally asks for at least 30 hairs, she said. We need a good standard to get a good idea of what all the hair features are. The motion was eventually granted by Castlen, and additional hair strands will be sent to the crime lab. Earlier this week, Castlen entered an order preventing attorneys for either side from granting media interviews. Cameras will also be barred from the courtroom during Goodrums trial. A pre-trial conference is scheduled June 29 at 1:30 p.m. for Goodrum. In the meantime, he remains in Warren County Regional Jail without bond, though the matter of bond is currently before the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700