Published: July 03, 2008 10:52 pm      

Murder case is postponed

Evidence not presented to grand jury in timely mannerBy Todd Kleffman

STANFORD — The murder charge against the man being held in connection with a six-year-old case has been discharged by a judge because it was not presented to a grand jury in a timely manner.

That does not mean the murder charge against Jamarkos Campbell of Richmond has been dismissed; it can be taken before a grand jury at any time in the future, his attorney, public defender Susanne McCollough, said Wednesday.

The judge had to discharge the charge by law, McCollough said, because Campbell was not indicted within 60 days of his April arrest for the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Eddy Montgomery said Wednesday that the discharge is really a “bond matter” and has no bearing on the murder case. He said he plans to bring the case before a Lincoln County grand jury on July 25.

Montgomery previously said he would bring the case in May and then in June, but said he could not present it either time because state police had not brought him the case. A state police spokesman said last week that he wasn’t sure why the case was being delayed, but said it is still an active investigation.

Montgomery explained that the pressure to indict Campbell within 60 days was reduced in May after he was sentenced to two years in prison for bringing cocaine into the Madison County Detention Center.

Because Campbell would be in custody for two years on another case, Montgomery indicated it became moot to indict him in time to hold him on the murder charge.

McCollough said, however, that without the murder charge hanging over him, her client might be eligible to receive shock probation on the Madison County sentence. He is eligible to apply for shock probation after 30 days from his sentencing, which occurred May 15 in Madison Circuit Court.

McCollough said she was not sure where her client is being held. He had previously been in the Lincoln County Regional Jail, but McCollough said he should no longer be a Lincoln County prisoner since the charge against him there has been discharged.

A spokesman at the Lincoln jail declined to comment Thursday. A spokesman at the Madison jail said Campbell is not in custody there.

Campbell, now 23, was a juvenile when the murders occurred. Authorities have declined to release his name and records pertaining to the case, claiming Campbell is still protected under juvenile codes until he is indicted and arraigned in circuit court as an adult.

Neither McCollough nor Montgomery referred to Campbell by name.

The Advocate-Messenger has confirmed his identity through other sources.