Judge denies new trial for Laura Hall
Woman convicted of aiding killer will remain in jail.

Friday, October 26, 2007

A state district judge today denied Laura Ashley Hall's request for a new trial.

Last month, Hall was sentenced to five years in prison for tampering with evidence in connection with the 2005 death of Jennifer Cave. Hall, 24, also was given a year in county jail for hindering apprehension for helping Colton Pitonyak flee to Mexico after he killed Cave, a 21-year-old legal assistant. Pitonyak was convicted of murder in Cave's death and sentenced to 55 years in prison.

Hall's lawyer had argued that prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that was favorable to Hall before her trial earlier this year. The motion for a new trial was in part based on the affidavit of Doug Conley, a cab driver who said that he could not pick Hall out of a lineup after he told authorities about a comment Hall had made while riding in his cab after Cave's murder.

Conley had told police that on Aug. 6, 2006, someone in his cab, who he thought was Hall, discussed a murder with him but didn't identify the victim by name, the affidavit said. Hall's lawyer argued that the lineup was not mentioned in court and that he had not been told about Conley's videotaped interview.

After District Judge Wilford Flowers denied the motion, defense lawyer Ken Mahaffey said Hall will file an appeal.