FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — The Fairfax judge hearing Jesse Matthew Jr.’s attempted capital murder case denied a motion from Matthew’s lawyers to delay the June 8 trial. Matthew’s lawyer asked for the delay earlier this month to “adequately prepare for trial and protect [Jesse Matthew’s] Constitutional rights,” however the judge ruled the defense had adequate time and even picked the trial date.
Matthew is scheduled to stand trial for attempted capital murder and sex crimes against a woman who was attacked outside her apartment in September 2005.
“The Commonwealth has had over nine years to investigate and prepare for this case; the defendant has had approximately six months to investigate and prepare for trial,” Matthew’s lawyers wrote in the motion that was denied. WTVR CBS 6 reporter Laura French tweeted out pages from the original motion.
Earlier this month, Matthew was charged with capital murder in the abduction and murder of second-year University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. Matthew will be eligible for the death penalty in the Graham case. He will return to court in Albemarle County on June 25.
The Fairfax Case
Documents unsealed in March revealed new information in the Jesse Matthew attempted capital murder sexual assault case in Fairfax. Prosecutors said Matthew abducted a woman on a path near her Fairfax apartment on September 24, 2005. Court documents alleged Matthew choked her and sexually assaulted her with his hand. DNA was taken from the victim and that sample linked Matthew to the offense, according to the documents.
That evidence prompted Matthew’s defense to request funds in the amount of $2,000 for a DNA expert.
DNA from the Fairfax case linked Matthew to murdered Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington the night she disappeared from UVa’s John Paul Jones Arena in 2009. That DNA was also collected in the Hannah Graham murder case.
This is a developing story.
