November 13, 2007

At the Nueces County Courthouse Thursday morning, a a complex legal battle is expected to get underway. Lawyers for 30 year old Hannah Overton will be trying to get her capital murder conviction thrown out, on the grounds that prosecutors never met the conditions for capital murder. if that motion fails. Overton's attorneys will be asking for a new trial

The overall question whether Hannah Overton is guilty or innocent has already been decided by a jury. They found her guilty of capital murder, in the poisoning death of 4 year old Andrew Burd, but Thursday morning there's a second chance. Judge Jose Longoria will look at whether this trial, according to the rule of law, was done correctly.

Daily, friends of Hannah visit her outside the jail. They stand outside and across the street offering prayers and support to a woman they say would never have intentionally killed Andrew.

Overton was convicted in September of Capital Murder in the poisoning death of Andrew. The boy she and her husband Larry were in the process of adopting.

Hannah's defense team has hired on a well known San Antonio attorney, Cynthia Orr. According to her law firms website, she's the Second Vice President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Past President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

Hannah's Attorney John Gilmore says Orr was his first choice. "She's up on the law in capital murder. She was my first choice in doing the brief."

Besides arguing Overtone was prevented from receiving a fair trial based on prosecutorial misconduct and extensive media coverage, Hannah's attorneys have also filed a smaller brief

It's a Motion in Arrest of Judgment, questioning the indictment and the wording of the capital murder instruction to the jury.

Gilmore says there was no evidence that Hannah forced him to drink the sodium, and the conviction seemed to be based on omission which he says doesn't fit with capital murder

Assistant District Attorney Doug Norman will present the state's response.
and, at every turn he says prosecutors plan to rebut any defense claims, including one that the state with-held a witness that might have been favorable to Hannah's case.

"She was found guilty of capital murder by omission, and that's a legally recognized theory," says Norman. He tells us it's not going to be in itself whether Hannah is guilty of innocence. "It is simply going to be about whether the trial was done correctly." Norman says the case was tried cleanly.

As for Hannah, she's still in the Nueces County Jail. Judge Longoria doesn't have to make a decision on this tomorrow. Unless he changes something she will be moved to a state facility to begin serving her life sentence.

Katy Kiser
kkiser@kiiitv.com