Today, Jared Ranguy, the man accused of murdering his mother, sister, and step-father, was expected to plead guilty or not guilty. But, instead, he flipped the script and fired his attorney - the fifth one he's parted ways with.
This after Ranguy stood up in court to say he didn't trust his attorney, OJ Elrington's decisions, saying quote: "That whole thing to plead guilty was Mr Elrington's idea."
This comes after Monday's sentence indication in which the 36 year old Ranguy learned that the court would respond to a guilty plea by sentencing him to life imprisonment and that he would not be eligible for parole until after serving 40 years - less the 10 years he has been on remand. So, being as he rejected what he said was his attorneys strategy - the conclusion is that he will not plead guilty, and will fight the case.
After attorney Elrington left, Ranguy's presentation was taken up by attorney Hector Guerra who indicated that he was only holding over for Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith who wishes to take over the case. Smith asked in his recent book, quote, "Could Jared Ranguy have committed a triple homicide while in a state of automatism?" End quote. Atumatism in this context means, an action performed unconsciously or involuntarily - for example, that he was sleepwalking - which Smith put forward in his book.
But, his junior counsel Guerra asked the judge for a 3-month adjournment so that his firm might be able to get up to speed with the case. Judge Sandcroft, however, denied that request and instead granted only a one-month adjournment until May 2nd, 2023 because the case is already 10 years old and has already had multiple delays.
But should Ranguy's new attorneys decide that one month isn't enough time, he could ultimately end up representing himself.
And while this decade-old case winds its way through the courts, a family's justice has been extensively delayed. This morning we spoke to Karen Skeen's brother, Rene. She was Jared's mother who he killed in November of 2012. Today, he told us about why he and over a dozen family members have shown up to every single court hearing:
Rene Skeen, Brother Of the Deceased
"This happened 10 years ago but it feels every day like it was just yesterday. So, what's going through my mind?"
"One word, justice for our family, Tina, my sister Karen and my brother-in-law Robert. So, feeling depressed feeling down, feeling all of it is an understatement but um, we. The judge did a good job this morning explaining to us the family that this is the fifth attorney he went through. He fired Mr OJ Elrington this morning and that is why we had to come back this afternoon. Now the case is adjourned until March 2nd. So, again, it's another waiting and waiting, and waiting, the people might say the victim needs justice blah, blah, blah. We, as a family, need justice and that is all we want we believe in the justice system and that is why we are here every time this case is adjourned at least 20 or 30 of my family members show up and because of the one word, justice."
