YAZOO - Yazoo County prosecutors preparing for today's preliminary hearing in the triple murder case against Earnest Lee Hargon said they have no intentions of halting their pursuit of the death penalty.
"We are still pursuing the death penalty … it's one of the most heinous crimes I've ever been associated with," Yazoo County Assistant District Attorney Steven Waldrup said.
Hargon is the 43-year-old former cattle truck driver accused of shooting to death his cousin, Michael Hargon, and strangling Michael Hargon's wife, Rebecca, and 4-year-old son, James Patrick.
The Vaughan community family disappeared on Valentine's Day and were missing for two weeks before their bodies were recovered nearly 100 miles from their Yazoo County home and only a few miles from Earnest Lee Hargon's home in Smith County.
Waldrup told The Associated Press that he is confident the evidence prosecutors have prepared to present will result in indictments against Earnest Lee Hargon.
But, Waldrup said, there is no reason to present all of the prosecution's evidence during a preliminary hearing.
"All you have to do is establish probable cause," he said. "We will not put on the case."
Waldrup said that it is common for prosecutors to present only enough evidence to persuade a judge to bind a case over to a grand jury. It would then be in the hands of a grand jury to decide if indictments should be handed down.
By not presenting all the evidence during a preliminary hearing, prosecutors can keep that evidence under wraps until an indictment is handed down.
"As a rule of thumb, just provide the minimum," Waldrup said. "The rules of discovery don't kick in until he is indicted."
In March, Earnest Lee Hargon's court-appointed attorney, Wesley Evans, requested full access to the prosecution's evidence but Yazoo County Justice Court Judge Pam Ingram May denied the request.
May said Thursday that Evans wanted to have all the prosecution's evidence going into the preliminary hearing. But, she said the purpose of the preliminary hearing is not to reveal all the evidence so she denied it.
At the same hearing, Evans asked May to move the case from justice court to county court to ensure that the proceedings would be documented by a court reporter.
May initially refused to transfer the case but then later reversed her decision.
May said she decided to transfer the hearing despite having jurisdictions because "it was in the best interest of all parties involved."
Yazoo County Judge Hudson Thomas is now expected to preside over the hearing.
Evan's did not immediately respond to messages left at his office.
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