Four suspects charged in the December 2015 murder of Indianola resident Willie Gilson were in court this week for pretrial motions.
Circuit Court Judge Richard Smith entertained a number of motions, the most eventful coming from Attorney Wayne Lee, who represents Lucas Edwards, one of the individuals charged with capital murder in the case.
Vilandrius Gibson, Garrick Price and Alexandria Jennings, the other suspects in the case, were also on hand Monday morning.
Sunflower County District Attorney W. Dewayne Richardson declined to comment recently on the case, but he confirmed the trial had been set for May 20.
That apparently will not happen.
After the date had been moved to earlier in May, other scheduling conflicts arose. Smith made an effort to nail down a trial date on Monday morning, but multiple calendar items led to the final trial date being delayed again.
The E-T had not confirmed a new trial date by press time.
“We need to do this within six months, or we’re looking at the end of the year,” Smith told the state and the attorneys for the defendants.
Lee, who is reportedly Edwards’ third court-appointed attorney to work on his behalf since his January 2016 arrest, described a strained relationship between himself and Edwards, and the defendant’s family members.
Lee said that Edwards previously stated in a letter that, “I was not doing anything to help him.”
Later, a phone conversation between Lee, Edwards and Edwards’ father escalated and got heated, Lee said.
“It kind of fell apart,” Lee said.
Lee said that Edwards has made several demands of him in terms of recovering potential evidence that could corroborate his alibi.
Edwards claims that he was over 100 miles away in the Memphis area on the day Gilson was shot in his driveway, and he maintains that cellphone records will prove that it is impossible for him to have been in Indianola at the time of the murder, which was reported to have happened around 7:30 that evening.
Edwards has told The E-T on multiple occasions that he and three others had been in the Memphis area for most of December 18, 2015.
While in Memphis, Edwards claims he visited his cousin and that he and his crew also engaged in shoplifting and a purse snatching at a Walmart store in Hernando.
The E-T has obtained a copy of an incident report filed by Officer Cody Caldwell of the Hernando Police Department at 6:06 p.m. on December 18, 2015.
In the report, the officer says he and a loss prevention officer viewed a surveillance videotape and witnessed the suspects enter a “dark colored Chevy Suburban” and flee the scene.
The officer did not say in the report whether or not a copy was made of the tape.
“I’m on that tape,” Edwards told the judge on Monday.
This tape - and others from the surrounding stores - has been a source of contention between Edwards and Lee, his attorney said.
Edwards has been insistent that Lee obtain the video surveillance tapes from that evening, but Lee says that he contacted Walmart’s loss prevention department in Bentonville, Ark. and was told that unless the police had made a copy of the tape, the ones from that evening more than likely no longer exist.
Lee did state, however, that he had made contact with one of the individuals who was said to have been with Edwards in the Memphis area that day, and she corroborated his story.
One of the individuals is in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Lee said, and he is still trying to locate the other person.
Edwards has also expressed frustration at Lee regarding his cellphone records, which he says will clear him of this crime.
Lee said the tension came to a head when he discovered Edwards and his family were in talks with another law firm in the Madison area. Lee was appointed by the court due to Edwards’ indigent status.
Although one of the pre-trial motions was for relief of council, Lee said that he believes his relationship with Edwards has improved since the falling out, and he explained to Edwards that he will be his attorney until the court says otherwise.
“I’m not going to fight him and everyone else too,” Lee said.
Smith then addressed Edwards directly.
“He’s not your enemy,” he said, referring to Lee.
Smith then explained that if things did not work out between Edwards and Lee, the defendant would likely have to represent himself at trial, with Lee being present to stand by him.
“We’re not going to keep going through lawyers, because they don’t tell you what you like to hear,” Smith said. “Y’all can work together. He’s not against you.”
Lee entered a motion for the court to subpoena the video surveillance tapes from the Hernando Walmart and multiple surrounding businesses.
Lee indicated he did not believe the tapes existed, but he wanted to make the effort for Edwards’ peace of mind.
He also entered a motion for funds to retain an expert witness who can read Edwards’ cellphone records from the day of the murder.
There was also a motion to “dismiss for lack of evidence,” something Lee said he did to appease his client.
Edwards again briefly addressed Smith to justify his insistence on that motion.
“The state don’t have nothing on me,” he said.
Smith explained to Lee and Edwards that no such motion exists in the courts.
“That’s what a jury trial is for,” Smith said.
Another motion was to exclude “previous bad acts.”
The district attorney’s office said that it did not plan to bring up previous bad acts in the case.
Edwards is currently serving a sentence for the October 2014 felony conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon with a firearm enhancement.
Prior to that, Edwards had been convicted of five other felony offenses, according to the Office of the District Attorney Fourth District.
Smith said he would take all of the other motions under advisement.
