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CANTON, Miss. -- A Madison County jury could soon begin deliberations in a case against Carla Hughes, who is accused in the 2006 slaying of a pregnant woman.
The defense and prosecution rested Monday morning. The attorneys were each given 90 minutes to present their closing arguments, then the jury will begin deliberations -- most likely by early Monday evening.“This case is about Avis Banks and Avis Banks’ unborn child,” Assistant District Attorney John Emfinger said in his closing arguments. “On Nov. 29, 2006, they were brutally murdered. That’s what this case is about. We have proven that beyond a reasonable doubt.”Emfinger described the prosecution’s version of Banks’ death during his closing arguments. He said Hughes was waiting inside the house for Banks to return home. Emfinger said Hughes tried to make the attack look like a robbery.“She was angry, she was mad, she had a purpose. She was lying in wait for Avis Banks,” Emfinger said.Banks was shot four times, once in the head, twice in the chest and once in the leg and then she had been stabbed three times and her neck cut, Emfinger said.Prosecutors allege Hughes killed Banks, so Keyon Pittman, Banks' fiance, could be with her, but throughout the trial, the defense has attempted to portray Pittman as the killer. Hughes and Pittman, both teachers at Chastain Middle School in Jackson, were in a sexual relationship at the time of Banks' death.“Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that Keyon Pittman wanted his cake and wanted to eat it too,” defense attorney Brandon Dorsey said in his closing arguments. “We submit to you ladies and gentlemen that on Nov. 29, 2006, Keyon Pittman was the one who greeted Avis Banks at the door with four bullets.”Police have said that Pittman was a suspect early in the investigation but there was no evidence tying him to the crime.Defense attorneys argued that prosecutors hadn't proven their case against Hughes.“The state seems to be forgetting that (Pittman) is a flat out liar. He’s a deceiver and he’s a walking devil because he manipulates people as he did and then he sits in front of you and cries without any tears," defense attorney Johnnie Walls told the jury. "I submit to you that you can’t tell from this evidence whether he found (Banks) or whether he left her like that, but that’s for you to decide.”Hughes did not testify in her own defense Monday."I have consulted with my attorneys and it is solely my decision to remain silent and not testify," Hughes told Madison County Circuit Court Judge William Chapman.The jury of nine women and three men was chosen Oct. 5 to hear the case. They have been sequestered since then at a Ridgeland hotel on orders to have no contact with family or friends or access to media of any kind.If convicted, Hughes could be sentenced to death.
Final Defense Witness Testifies
Earlier Monday, Renita Booth, Hughes' landlord in 2006, testified that Hughes told her in October 2006 that someone had tried to break into her Jackson apartment and said that Hughes filed a police report after the incident.Defense attorneys for Hughes had said that she borrowed a gun from a relative because she was worried about her safety following the incident. Prosecutors allege that Hughes used the gun to kill Banks.On Saturday, Carla Hughes' defense team called her mother, Lynnun Hughes, to the stand.Lynnun Hughes testified about her daughter's involvement in Banks' slaying.
Authorities said Banks was killed in the garage of the Ridgeland home she shared with Pittman.Hughes said that her daughter was frequently on the phone with Pittman, and rarely spent time with family.Hughes told the defense that, on the day Banks was discovered, she was speaking over the phone to her daughter when Pittman called, as well. She said her daughter answered Pittman's phone call, and when they resumed their conversation, Lynnun Hughes said her daughter then told her that Pittman said something had happened to Banks."She seemed surprised," Hughes said. "You know how your voice will change. It was, 'Oh, he says they've done something to Avis!"Hughes said she told her daughter to not do anything and to stay put."She said that he was calling for her and I advised her to stay where she was," she said.Hughes said she'd met Pittman on two occasions, once at her daughter's apartment and again at the Jackson restaurant where Pittman worked part time. She said she knew her daughter and Pittman were close and that he was engaged to Banks. Hughes said she did not know that Banks was pregnant.
Images: Carla Hughes Charged In Pregnant Woman's SlayingThe defense then brought Marcia Kay Bradstreet to the stand. Bradstreet was the mother of one of the girls on the cheer squad that Carla Hughes coached.Bradstreet said that she had trouble reaching Hughes on the day of the incident. She was calling Hughes to inquire information about the upcoming Christmas parade that the squad would attend.Bradstreet said she called Hughes at about 5 p.m., but didn't reach her until about 7 p.m. Bradstreet said Hughes sounded normal and Bradstreet didn't pick up any sense that their conversation was rushed.The prosecution then asked Bradstreet about a particular photo of Pittman and Hughes together, which Bradstreet had given to Hughes after she asked for it. The defense, however, proclaimed that Bradstreet had other photos that she had given to Hughes, not only the one of her and Pittman.
Man Testifies About Gun
Police said Hughes' cousin, Patrick Nash, told them that he loaned his cousin a gun several days before the attack. On Friday, prosecutors called James Nash, Patrick Nash's father and Hughes' uncle, to testify about the gun allegedly used to shoot Banks on Nov. 29, 2006."(Patrick) was very concerned about (the gun) being used in a murder that had taken place," James Nash said. "I told him he needed to get in contact with Carla to get the gun back. Patrick wanted to take the pistol to the Ridgeland Police Department."James Nash said he spoke to Hughes about the gun. He said he had the gun with him when he met with Hughes."I asked her, 'If we send the gun to the lab and have it tested, would it come back as having being involved in a murder?' The body language kind of gave me an answer. She dropped her head and shrugged her shoulders and I took that to be 'I really don't know,' or 'Affirmative. I really don't know,'" James Nash testified. "At that point in time, I realized I had to do something with the gun."James Nash said he called an attorney and turned the gun over to the Ridgeland police.
Pittman: Relationship With Hughes 'Sexual Adventure'
During an interview with police that was taped Dec. 1, 2006, Hughes told detectives that she and Pittman were just good friends. She said she didn't know what happened to Banks but said she heard that someone had broken into the house and killed her. Hughes wasn't under arrest at the time of the interview.During testimony Tuesday, Pittman described his relationship with Hughes as a “sexual adventure.” He said he spent a weekend in Memphis with her and admitted to having had sex with her several times at the home he shared with Banks.
Pittman said his relationship with Hughes moved very fast and Hughes asked him several times if he would leave Banks. He said he told her that would never happen.During the taped police interview, Hughes said she never asked Pittman to leave Banks.Hughes said during the police interrogation that she spoke to Banks on the phone and Banks told her to “leave her man alone.” Hughes again said that she and Pittman were just friends.Bridgette Matlock, who was the basketball mom at Chastain Middle School when Pittman was a coach in 2006, testified Thursday afternoon. She testified that Pittman was at a basketball practice when Banks was killed.Prosecutors said Banks was shot four times and stabbed. Prosecutors said Hughes had the murder weapon around the time of the crime and bloody shoes that match footprints at the crime scene. Lt. John Neal testified Wednesday that blood traces were found on the black TredSafe shoes he found in Hughes' apartment.
Key Evidence Could Hurt Defense
A key piece of evidence could hurt Hughes' defense.The jury was removed from the courtroom Friday after prosecutors announced that they have recovered a garage door opener that allegedly belonged to Pittman.The evidence could be damaging to Hughes' attorney, who tried to establish that Pittman did not have his garage door opener on the night that his fiancee was killed.A jury of nine women and three men chosen Oct. 5 to hear the case is sequestered at a Ridgeland hotel on orders to have no contact with family or friends or access to media of any kind.If convicted, Hughes could be sentenced to death.The story has gained national attention and the trial is being broadcast live on TruTV. The Canton courtroom has also been packed this week with spectators.
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