later the alarm went out to law enforcementnofficials. It was too late. Jones wasnacross the state line and two days laternstabbed Randall Garvin Reeves and hisnstepdaughter, Leigh Drew, on the porchnof their Lincolnton home. Reeves wasndead on arrival at a Washington, Georgia,nhospital and, after threatening Mrs.nReeves and her son, Jones.made hisnescape driving their car. Police caughtnhim a few days later, and in July 1990,namid a flurry of publicity, he went to trial.nTo cover the cost of the trial the countynraised taxes some $90,000. It wasn’tnenough. The capital murder trial andnsentencing cost in excess of $100,000—nthe largest single line item in the county’sn1990 budget. Jones’s attorney, JimmynPlunkett, appealed his death sentencenand on September 23, 1991, the GeorgianSupreme Court, citing pretrial publicity,nunanimously overturned the conviction.nThe appellate court said 38 ofnthe 42 members of the jury panel had priornknowledge of the case and that annexpensive change of venue should havenbeen granted. Though jurors had swomnunder oath that they could put asidenany media coverage, as prescribed undernprevious change of venue decisions, thenhigh court made pretrial publicity thenissue, not the jurors’ ability to ignorenit. “Not once did anyone from thenSupreme Court contact me to ask whatnevidence was considered in the conviction,”njuror Sheila Wilkes complained inna letter to the Lincoln ]ournal. “Wengave Jones the benefit of every doubt.nWe refused to even consider two eyewitnessnaccounts of the murder becausenthey presented too many discrepanciesnwhen compared to other evidence presentednin the case.” The other evidencenincluded Jones’s two admissions to thenmurder, a taped confession, his fingerprints,nsome of them bloody, on both thenReeves’ house and car, and his use of thenmurder to taunt another man he laternshot.n”I think it’s about time that someonenstood up to the Georgia Supreme Courtnand the U.S. Supreme Court on the verdictsnthey’re overturning, and I’m preparednto represent the people of LincolnnCounty in flatly telling the SupremenCourt that if they want to retry this man,nthen they can pay the bill,” County CommissionnChairman Walker T. Normanntold reporters at the time of the reversal.nNorman and the other commissionersnbecame even more enraged when theynlearned that state law demanded they paynPlunkett for 156 billing hours on thensuccessful appeal. Judge Davis—refusingnto allow them to see the bill, also asnrequired by law—^gave them until Octobern30 to hand over $6,000. This they didnnot do, and at two minutes until noonnthe day before Halloween, the countynsheriff ran well-wishers and reporters outnof Norman’s office to read the commissionersn”their last rites,” as a bystandernput it. “I think … the grass roots peoplenare voicing their opinion,” Norman saidnpreceding his arrest. “We feel that somethingnhas got to be done if we’re going tonhave a judicial system that’s responsivento the people.”nPrior to being fingerprinted, the commissionersndiscussed a second tax hike,nat least $125,000 this time, to re-try Jones.nThey also filed a $2 million suit againstnthe South Carolina Department of Correctionsnfor allowing Jones to escape.nFinally, they went to the financiallynstrapped state legislature in hopes of gettingnGeorgia to pick up the tab for annew trial. This, however, is an unlikelynscenario, since the counties of Dawsonnand Seminole have suffered much thensame legal-financial problem, and Georgianis battling an ongoing budget crisis bynlaying off state employees.nThere apparently has been no talk ofnsaving tax money by dropping the capitalnmurder charges against Jones. However,nthis option is likely to be considerednby other jurisdictions in similar situationsnin the future because the country suffersnfrom a nationwide legal gridlock. In federalncourts today, one in ten civil cases hasnbeen on file in excess of three years, andneighty thousand cases are more than anyear old. In New York City, a misdemeanorncase, after arraignment, takesnalmost two hundred days before a trialnverdict is reached, and in Philadelphia,nwith 13,000 pending felony charges, sheriff’sndeputies quit serving papers in civilnsuits for lack of time. More and morenthe public blames these kinds of problemsnon lawyers. Echoing Vice-PresidentnQuayle, many Americans say that 770,000nattomeys, 70 percent of the worid’s total,nare simply too many and demand anreduction. In the Lincoln County case,nhowever, Jones’s attomey was required bynlaw to file an appeal. It was not hisnchoice. Furthermore, even if Jones is convictednagain in a second, more expensiventrial, another state-mandated appeal willnbe filed. According to the Georgia Departmentnof Corrections, the typical deathnnnrow inmate files at least four costly legaln’ actions. Only one inmate in ten actuallyngoes to the electric chair, after annaverage 11 years of being housed atn$25,557 per year, $10,000 more than othernprisoners.nThe repercussions of the Lincoln commissioners’none-day jail stay are being feltnthroughout the state’s legal circuit.nThough the Supreme Court reheardnJones’s appeal and still voted for reversal—thisntime in a 4-3 vote—Chief JusticenHarold G. Clarke is presently urgingnthe state to cover more of the cost of indigentndefense. Since almost one-quarternof Georgia’s death penalty convictions arenoverturned, many due to “ineffectivencounsel,” there are calls for a state publicndefender’s office to handle deathnpenalty cases. In neighboring ColumbianCounty, officials not only plan to moventhe criminal trial of Richard Daniel Starrettnsome two hundred miles, they alsonwere compelled to change the venue onna civil action concerning Starrett’s mentalncompetency, thereby potentiallyntripling case expenses. And in RichmondnCounty, the district attorney opted tonLIBERAL ARTSnPROCREATION ANDnDEATH ROWnClaiming the “right to reproduce,”n14 Death Row inmates in San Quentinnhave filed a suit against the state ofnCalifornia. Last January, syndicated ‘ncolumnist Ellen Goodman reportednthe so-called “right to procreate by artificialninsemination” with a “willingnwoman” and listed this among thenlatest examples of bizarre lawsuits,nexpanding individual “rights,” and annobsession with reproductive technology.nThe prisoners’ attorney, CarternKing, argues that “procreation is a basicnright and executing all future generationsnis extreme.” This type of lawsuitnhas been tried twice before in Virginianand Nevada.nMAY 1992 /43n