U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver has denied a request by Valerie Friend to postpone her Oct. 27 retrial in a case arising from the 2005 murder of a drug informant.
A 2007 jury found that Friend helped kill 33-year-old Carla Collins, and that co-defendant George Lecco ordered the murder to protect their Mingo County drug ring.
Copenhaver threw out those verdicts in May because of a juror’s misconduct. He granted them separate retrials earlier this month, after learning that each blames the other for the killing.
Lecco’s retrial has not been set. Both still face charges punishable by death, and remain jailed.
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