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