CONCORD - Jury selection is almost complete in the Lisa Louise Greene double-murder trial after nine days of questioning.
Ten jurors have been chosen as of Thursday and Judge Robert Bell (Mecklenburg) told attorneys he expected to have all 12 jurors and two to three alternates chosen by the middle of next week.
Jury selection began Oct. 8 as Assistant District Attorney Ashlie Shanley and Greene’s attorneys, Lisa Dubs and Robert Campbell, quizzed potential jurors on their views of the death penalty, their knowledge of the case and their ability to decide the case regardless of outside factors.
At least four jurors were excused because their religious or personal views wouldn’t allow them to sentence anyone to death. Almost all of the jurors questioned said they had heard of the case in the news, but would be able to make a decision based solely on court proceedings.
Greene, 42, has remained predominantly stoic during jury selection. However, the first day during pretrial motions, she appeared animated and continually turned to her supporters to show excitement or anger at certain rulings.
The jury will be paid $12 for the first day of service, $20 the second through the fifth and $40 each additional day. The trial is expected to last four weeks, not including a sentencing phase, which could add a possible two weeks, court officials said.
After jury selection is complete, pre-trial hearings are scheduled to begin, including suppression of an alleged confession Greene made to arson investigators days after the fire.
The “guilt or innocence” phase of the trial could begin as early as Oct. 29, court officials said.
Greene is accused of killing her two children by setting her Midland trailer on fire on Jan. 10, 2006. Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8, died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire. She is also charged with arson, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia.
If convicted, jurors would have to decide between sentencing her to life in prison or the death penalty. If sentenced to death, she would be the first woman to receive that sentence in Cabarrus County’s history.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Jurors say they have no bias
Potential jurors in the Lisa Greene murder and arson case said on Tuesday that they would be able to put aside any information they may hear outside of the courtroom about the case if they are called to serve.
Lisa Dubs and Robert Campbell, Greene's attorneys had asked Superior Court Judge Robert Bell on Monday to move the trial to another location because media attention could bias a Cabarrus County jury. Bell said he would only consider the change in venue if several jurors showed signs of a bias because of media scrutiny. Of the eight jurors questioned by Ashlie Shandley, Cabarrus County Assistant District Attorney, five said they had seen media coverage of the case but would base their decision solely on courtroom testimony. One juror was excused Tuesday because he said his religious convictions, wouldn't allow him to kill another person - no matter what the circumstances.
Bell estimated that court proceedings could last eight weeks: Four weeks for jury selection and four weeks for the trial phase.
Bell also ruled Tuesday that he would allow television cameras in the courtroom after ruling Monday that he would allow still-frame photographs to be taken. Jon Buchan, an attorney representing local media outlets, argued that cameras in the courtroom would alleviate any misinformation about that case. Greene's attorneys and Shandley objected to cameras in the courtroom. Greene is on trial for the death of her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison, Macemore, 8 in a trailer fire on Jan 10, 2006. Both children died of carbon monoxide poisoning. If found guilty she could face the death penalty.
Lisa Dubs and Robert Campbell, Greene's attorneys had asked Superior Court Judge Robert Bell on Monday to move the trial to another location because media attention could bias a Cabarrus County jury. Bell said he would only consider the change in venue if several jurors showed signs of a bias because of media scrutiny. Of the eight jurors questioned by Ashlie Shandley, Cabarrus County Assistant District Attorney, five said they had seen media coverage of the case but would base their decision solely on courtroom testimony. One juror was excused Tuesday because he said his religious convictions, wouldn't allow him to kill another person - no matter what the circumstances.
Bell estimated that court proceedings could last eight weeks: Four weeks for jury selection and four weeks for the trial phase.
Bell also ruled Tuesday that he would allow television cameras in the courtroom after ruling Monday that he would allow still-frame photographs to be taken. Jon Buchan, an attorney representing local media outlets, argued that cameras in the courtroom would alleviate any misinformation about that case. Greene's attorneys and Shandley objected to cameras in the courtroom. Greene is on trial for the death of her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison, Macemore, 8 in a trailer fire on Jan 10, 2006. Both children died of carbon monoxide poisoning. If found guilty she could face the death penalty.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Greene has first day at trial
Lisa Louise Greene, 42, had her first day in court Monday as pretrial hearings and jury selection began in the first-degree murder and arson case.
Greene is accused of intentionally starting a fire at her Midland trailer on Jan. 10, 2006, that took the lives of her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10 and Addison Macemore, 8. If she is found guilty, Greene could face life in prison or be sentenced to death.
Court proceedings stemming from Greene’s misdemeanor drug possession and possession of drug parphenalia charges lodged after police found the items at her home the night of the fire had been scheduled for a later date, but in a pretrial motion filed by Cabarrus County Assistant District Attorney Ashlie Shandley, Judge Robert Bell (Mecklenburg County), joined the two. Greene’s defense team, Lisa Dubs and Robert Campbell, objected to that motion.
Bell will hear testimony this morning on whether a statement given to arson investigators on Jan 13, 2006, in which Greene allegedly confessed to starting the fire will be suppressed because, according to Dubs statements at trial, Greene was on medication during the interview and was pressured into going with police. Dubs called the sworn document “false” and “inflammatory.”
In other pretrial motions, Greene’s attorneys requested that court proceedings be moved to another county on the grounds that the media attention of the case could have influenced the Cabarrus County jury pool. Bell said that he would wait to give a decision until after speaking with potential jurors and getting a better understanding of the issue.
Greene was animated during the initial proceedings, throwing her hands up and shaking her head as ADA Shandley read articles and reports by news outlets, and she continually turned and smiled or grimaced to the more than 30 family members and friends who sat in the gallery at Monday’s hearings as Bell made rulings on motions.
After pretrial hearings, 80 potential jurors were brought in and asked to fill out a six-page questionnaire about the case that will be used to screen out unwanted jurors.
If the 12 jurors and two alternates necessary for the case aren’t found in the initial batch of potential jurors more will be brought into for questioning later this week. - Josh Lanier
Greene is accused of intentionally starting a fire at her Midland trailer on Jan. 10, 2006, that took the lives of her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10 and Addison Macemore, 8. If she is found guilty, Greene could face life in prison or be sentenced to death.
Court proceedings stemming from Greene’s misdemeanor drug possession and possession of drug parphenalia charges lodged after police found the items at her home the night of the fire had been scheduled for a later date, but in a pretrial motion filed by Cabarrus County Assistant District Attorney Ashlie Shandley, Judge Robert Bell (Mecklenburg County), joined the two. Greene’s defense team, Lisa Dubs and Robert Campbell, objected to that motion.
Bell will hear testimony this morning on whether a statement given to arson investigators on Jan 13, 2006, in which Greene allegedly confessed to starting the fire will be suppressed because, according to Dubs statements at trial, Greene was on medication during the interview and was pressured into going with police. Dubs called the sworn document “false” and “inflammatory.”
In other pretrial motions, Greene’s attorneys requested that court proceedings be moved to another county on the grounds that the media attention of the case could have influenced the Cabarrus County jury pool. Bell said that he would wait to give a decision until after speaking with potential jurors and getting a better understanding of the issue.
Greene was animated during the initial proceedings, throwing her hands up and shaking her head as ADA Shandley read articles and reports by news outlets, and she continually turned and smiled or grimaced to the more than 30 family members and friends who sat in the gallery at Monday’s hearings as Bell made rulings on motions.
After pretrial hearings, 80 potential jurors were brought in and asked to fill out a six-page questionnaire about the case that will be used to screen out unwanted jurors.
If the 12 jurors and two alternates necessary for the case aren’t found in the initial batch of potential jurors more will be brought into for questioning later this week. - Josh Lanier
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Jury Selection Begins in murder trial
Jury selection is set to begin this morning in the trial of a woman accused of setting a fire outside the bedroom where her children were sleeping.
Lisa Greene is charged with arson and two counts of first-degree murder. She faces the death penalty if she is convicted.
Defense attorneys will try today to suppress some of the statements investigators say she made. They will also try to persuade a judge to move the trial out of Cabarrus County to another venue because of previous media coverage.
Prosecutors say Greene said she set a blanket on fire and laid it on a bookshelf outside the room where the children slept. Investigators say Greene told them that as the shelf burned, she closed the door and sat in a living room recliner. They say she left when she began to smell smoke and didn't do anything to help the children.
Ten-year-old Daniel Macemore, and his 8-year-old sister, Addison, died of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation. - AP
Lisa Greene is charged with arson and two counts of first-degree murder. She faces the death penalty if she is convicted.
Defense attorneys will try today to suppress some of the statements investigators say she made. They will also try to persuade a judge to move the trial out of Cabarrus County to another venue because of previous media coverage.
Prosecutors say Greene said she set a blanket on fire and laid it on a bookshelf outside the room where the children slept. Investigators say Greene told them that as the shelf burned, she closed the door and sat in a living room recliner. They say she left when she began to smell smoke and didn't do anything to help the children.
Ten-year-old Daniel Macemore, and his 8-year-old sister, Addison, died of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation. - AP
Friday, October 5, 2007
Life and Death Decisions
A jury that is scheduled to be selected Monday in the Lisa Louise Greene case will have the option to sentence her to life in prison or death by lethal injection if she is found guilty of first-degree murder. A recent decline in the number of death penalty sentences handed down by juries will make the case interesting for Cabarrus County prosecutors.
Greene is accused of intentionally starting a fire at her Midland mobile home on January 10, 2006 that killed her children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8. In court documents obtained by the Independent Tribune, Cabarrus County District Attorney, Roxann Vaneekhoven, said that the crimes Greene is accused of are “especially heinous,” and that the death penalty was necessary.
Isaac Unah, a UNC political science professor who has studied North Carolina death penalty cases, said juries have returned fewer death verdicts in recent years because of a national debate against the death penalty.
“Juries, like everyone else, watch the news and they hear things about cases of individuals put to death who are later exonerated, death penalty cases are always in the news,” Unah said. “There’s a national trend against the death penalty. Juries are citizens as well.”
A 2006 Gallup poll found that 65 percent of Americans were in favor of the death penalty, but Unah believes that poll numbers are inflated because they are only yes or no answers.
“On a gut level most people feel that the death penalty is necessary,” he said. “But we continually see a decline in death sentences because once juries begin to think about the implications and irreversibility of their decision they side against that option.”
Tyler Gladden, convicted in the 2002 contract murder of Tara Chambers and her child, was sentenced to life plus 50 years on Aug 4. Cabarrus jurors had the option to sentence Gladden to die.
Gladden’s case was the first death penalty case in seven years for Cabarrus County. Cabarrus County prosecutors do not keep records of how many death penalty cases they’ve tried and it is unknown how many juries have returned a sentence of life in prison instead of the death penalty.
Since North Carolina lifted automatic death penalty sentences for first-degree murder cases in 1967 and allowed juries to decide death sentences, only four Cabarrus County individuals have been sentenced to die.
David Lawson was the last man executed from Cabarrus County. He died in the gas chamber on June 2, 1994, after being convicted of killing Wayne Shinn. According to previous reports, Shinn caught Lawson breaking into his Concord home in 1980. After a fight ensued, Lawson shot Shinn and his father, who survived, at point blank range in the back of the head.
Lawson made national headlines when he asked the Phil Donahue Show to televise his execution. The U.S. Supreme Court denied that request.
Since Lawson, three other Cabarrus County men from have waited their turn for the needle. Two of them, Andrew Craig and Francis Anthony were removed from death row when a superior court judge vacated their death sentences for a life sentences in 2002.
Ernest McCarver’s death sentence was put on hold by a Supreme Court ruling in 2001 that asked a lower N.C. circuit court to review medical information that he was mentally retarded. McCarver’s stay of execution was handed down only hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, North Carolina’s only method of execution. He is on death row. He was convicted of the robbery and murder of a Cabarrus County restaurant owner, Woodrow Hartley.
Individuals must be convicted of first-degree murder and at least one of 11 aggravating circumstances to be eligible for the death penalty in North Carolina. - Josh Lanier
Greene is accused of intentionally starting a fire at her Midland mobile home on January 10, 2006 that killed her children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8. In court documents obtained by the Independent Tribune, Cabarrus County District Attorney, Roxann Vaneekhoven, said that the crimes Greene is accused of are “especially heinous,” and that the death penalty was necessary.
Isaac Unah, a UNC political science professor who has studied North Carolina death penalty cases, said juries have returned fewer death verdicts in recent years because of a national debate against the death penalty.
“Juries, like everyone else, watch the news and they hear things about cases of individuals put to death who are later exonerated, death penalty cases are always in the news,” Unah said. “There’s a national trend against the death penalty. Juries are citizens as well.”
A 2006 Gallup poll found that 65 percent of Americans were in favor of the death penalty, but Unah believes that poll numbers are inflated because they are only yes or no answers.
“On a gut level most people feel that the death penalty is necessary,” he said. “But we continually see a decline in death sentences because once juries begin to think about the implications and irreversibility of their decision they side against that option.”
Tyler Gladden, convicted in the 2002 contract murder of Tara Chambers and her child, was sentenced to life plus 50 years on Aug 4. Cabarrus jurors had the option to sentence Gladden to die.
Gladden’s case was the first death penalty case in seven years for Cabarrus County. Cabarrus County prosecutors do not keep records of how many death penalty cases they’ve tried and it is unknown how many juries have returned a sentence of life in prison instead of the death penalty.
Since North Carolina lifted automatic death penalty sentences for first-degree murder cases in 1967 and allowed juries to decide death sentences, only four Cabarrus County individuals have been sentenced to die.
David Lawson was the last man executed from Cabarrus County. He died in the gas chamber on June 2, 1994, after being convicted of killing Wayne Shinn. According to previous reports, Shinn caught Lawson breaking into his Concord home in 1980. After a fight ensued, Lawson shot Shinn and his father, who survived, at point blank range in the back of the head.
Lawson made national headlines when he asked the Phil Donahue Show to televise his execution. The U.S. Supreme Court denied that request.
Since Lawson, three other Cabarrus County men from have waited their turn for the needle. Two of them, Andrew Craig and Francis Anthony were removed from death row when a superior court judge vacated their death sentences for a life sentences in 2002.
Ernest McCarver’s death sentence was put on hold by a Supreme Court ruling in 2001 that asked a lower N.C. circuit court to review medical information that he was mentally retarded. McCarver’s stay of execution was handed down only hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, North Carolina’s only method of execution. He is on death row. He was convicted of the robbery and murder of a Cabarrus County restaurant owner, Woodrow Hartley.
Individuals must be convicted of first-degree murder and at least one of 11 aggravating circumstances to be eligible for the death penalty in North Carolina. - Josh Lanier
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Names escape them, but neighbors can't forget the crime
MIDLAND - Most residents don’t remember her name, but they haven’t forgotten the charges against Lisa Louise Greene.
Greene, 42, is charged with killing her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8, in a house fire on Jan. 10, 2006. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
Several Midland residents said they were familiar with the case and had formed an opinion about it.
Outside of the Sunday Shop, a popular ice cream and sandwich shop in Midland, less than a mile from where the fire occurred, many customers said finding an impartial jury will be difficult to do.
According to court officials, the jury will consist only of Cabarrus County residents.
Several customers said they have driven past Greene’s former home because they wanted to see it for themselves.
The trailer, located at 10925 Candilara Lane, has switched owners three times since Greene went to jail on Jan. 13, 2006. It’s been renovated and remodeled.
“We had no idea that anything like that had happened here,” said the current owner, who did not want to be identified. “We didn’t find out until a few weeks ago when someone came looking for information on the case.”
The publicity around the case because of the public interest has been the subject of several pretrial motions on who should have jurisdiction to rule in the trial.
In court documents obtained by the Independent Tribune, Greene’s court-appointed attorneys, Lisa Andrew Dubs and Richard Campbell, opposed a motion by Assistant District Attorney Ashlie Shanley that asked Judge Erwin Spainhour, a Cabarrus County Superior Court Judge, to retain jurisdiction over the case.
In the court documents, Shanley said the notoriety, among other things, in the case would best be handled in the county where the offenses took place and the defendant lives.
Dubs and Campbell argued that “heightened interest makes it less appropriate for a judge who is elected in the same community to appoint himself to preside over (the) case.”
Because of the motions, Judge W. Robert Bell (Mecklenburg County) has been in brought to preside over the case.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday. - Josh Lanier
Greene, 42, is charged with killing her two children, Daniel Macemore, 10, and Addison Macemore, 8, in a house fire on Jan. 10, 2006. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
Several Midland residents said they were familiar with the case and had formed an opinion about it.
Outside of the Sunday Shop, a popular ice cream and sandwich shop in Midland, less than a mile from where the fire occurred, many customers said finding an impartial jury will be difficult to do.
According to court officials, the jury will consist only of Cabarrus County residents.
Several customers said they have driven past Greene’s former home because they wanted to see it for themselves.
The trailer, located at 10925 Candilara Lane, has switched owners three times since Greene went to jail on Jan. 13, 2006. It’s been renovated and remodeled.
“We had no idea that anything like that had happened here,” said the current owner, who did not want to be identified. “We didn’t find out until a few weeks ago when someone came looking for information on the case.”
The publicity around the case because of the public interest has been the subject of several pretrial motions on who should have jurisdiction to rule in the trial.
In court documents obtained by the Independent Tribune, Greene’s court-appointed attorneys, Lisa Andrew Dubs and Richard Campbell, opposed a motion by Assistant District Attorney Ashlie Shanley that asked Judge Erwin Spainhour, a Cabarrus County Superior Court Judge, to retain jurisdiction over the case.
In the court documents, Shanley said the notoriety, among other things, in the case would best be handled in the county where the offenses took place and the defendant lives.
Dubs and Campbell argued that “heightened interest makes it less appropriate for a judge who is elected in the same community to appoint himself to preside over (the) case.”
Because of the motions, Judge W. Robert Bell (Mecklenburg County) has been in brought to preside over the case.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday. - Josh Lanier
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Greene trial set to begin next week
CONCORD - The trial for a mother accused of killing her two children by starting a fire at the Midland mobile home where the family lived is scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection.
Lisa Louise Greene, 42, could face the death penalty or life in prison if found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson in the January 10, 2006 fire.
Greene’s court appointed attorneys Lisa Andrew Dubs and Richard Campbell, have asked for more time to prepare for the trial, but their last appeal for a continuation was denied, setting an Oct. 8 court date, according to a court document obtained by the Independent Tribune.
A Cabarrus County judge has issued a “gag order,” barring anyone associated with the case from speaking to the media. Judge Robert Bell, a superior judge from Mecklenburg County, will preside over the case.
According to court documents, the Midland Volunteer firefighters responded to Greene’s doublewide trailer at 10925 Candilara Lane after receiving a 2 a.m. 911 call from neighbors who had heard her screams for help. Firefighters found the two children, Nathan “Daniel” Macemore, 10, and Addison Brooke Macemore, 8, dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in the back bedroom. Police found half an ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the living room of the house and arrested Greene, documents said.
Greene initially told investigators that the fire likely started with a candle that was lit in the children’s room. During an interview Jan. 13, 2006, investigators told Greene that little fire damage was seen inside the room with the children and she then confessed to starting the blaze by lighting a blanket on fire and placing it on top of a bookcase outside of the children’s room, documents said.
In a sworn statement by N.C. SBI Special Agent Mullis, an arson investigator recounted the interview with Greene.
“Greene admitted that she knew that the bookcase outside the kid’s room had caught on fire. Greene admitted to this (investigator) that she then closed the door of the kids’ bedroom and went back to a recliner in the living room and sat as the fire burned.”
After smelling smoke, Mullis’ statement continued, she left the residence. Greene admitted she did nothing to assist her children.
An arson expert, John Lentini, hired by Greene’s defense team who is scheduled to testify will rebut investigators claims that the fire began outside of the children’s room.
Her attorney’s have issued a motion to suppress the confession because they claim she was taking medication given to her the night of the fire by emergency room doctors and she was distraught because the five and a half hour interview took place during the funeral visitations for her children.
A hearing for the suppression is scheduled for next week.
Greene has been held in the Cabarrus County jail with no bond since Jan 13, 2006. - Josh Lanier
Lisa Louise Greene, 42, could face the death penalty or life in prison if found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson in the January 10, 2006 fire.
Greene’s court appointed attorneys Lisa Andrew Dubs and Richard Campbell, have asked for more time to prepare for the trial, but their last appeal for a continuation was denied, setting an Oct. 8 court date, according to a court document obtained by the Independent Tribune.
A Cabarrus County judge has issued a “gag order,” barring anyone associated with the case from speaking to the media. Judge Robert Bell, a superior judge from Mecklenburg County, will preside over the case.
According to court documents, the Midland Volunteer firefighters responded to Greene’s doublewide trailer at 10925 Candilara Lane after receiving a 2 a.m. 911 call from neighbors who had heard her screams for help. Firefighters found the two children, Nathan “Daniel” Macemore, 10, and Addison Brooke Macemore, 8, dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in the back bedroom. Police found half an ounce of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the living room of the house and arrested Greene, documents said.
Greene initially told investigators that the fire likely started with a candle that was lit in the children’s room. During an interview Jan. 13, 2006, investigators told Greene that little fire damage was seen inside the room with the children and she then confessed to starting the blaze by lighting a blanket on fire and placing it on top of a bookcase outside of the children’s room, documents said.
In a sworn statement by N.C. SBI Special Agent Mullis, an arson investigator recounted the interview with Greene.
“Greene admitted that she knew that the bookcase outside the kid’s room had caught on fire. Greene admitted to this (investigator) that she then closed the door of the kids’ bedroom and went back to a recliner in the living room and sat as the fire burned.”
After smelling smoke, Mullis’ statement continued, she left the residence. Greene admitted she did nothing to assist her children.
An arson expert, John Lentini, hired by Greene’s defense team who is scheduled to testify will rebut investigators claims that the fire began outside of the children’s room.
Her attorney’s have issued a motion to suppress the confession because they claim she was taking medication given to her the night of the fire by emergency room doctors and she was distraught because the five and a half hour interview took place during the funeral visitations for her children.
A hearing for the suppression is scheduled for next week.
Greene has been held in the Cabarrus County jail with no bond since Jan 13, 2006. - Josh Lanier
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