Lawyers for Richard Scott Harper withdrew a motion today that challenged his indictment.
Defense attorneys had filed a supplemental motion to dismiss the current indictment against Harper, stating that a member of the grand jury that issued the indictment is a convicted felon. However, District Attorney Leigh Patterson said the motion is flawed - the jury member has not been convicted of a felony.
Patterson said the juror does have a misdemeanor conviction on his record, but that is not grounds for dismissal from the jury.
The conviction, of misdemeanor marijuana possession, does not constitute grounds for dismissal from a jury regarding criminal history - a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction "involving moral turpitude."
The jury member was charged with a felony possession with intent to sell marijuana in 2002, but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge; the felony was dropped.
“The court documents and the documents we received from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were conflicting - the GBI documents still show he has a felony conviction,” said defense attorney Christopher Tywman.
“We still do not think he was a qualified grand juror,” said Twyman.
He said that the defense intends to still challenge the juror due to a number of arrests and misdemeanor convictions in the past.
Motions in the case are scheduled to be heard July 21 and 22.
Click to view 'Withdrawal of supplemental motion - Harper case'
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