Man’s death-penalty trial for allegedly killing girlfriend, infant son, faces more delays
The trial for the man charged in Columbus’ only pending death-penalty case likely has been delayed at least a year by his switching from private attorneys to lawyers with Georgia’s Capital Defender Office.
Charged with killing his girlfriend and infant son before setting their Winifred Lane home afire in August 2014, Brandon David Conner had his first Superior Court hearing with his new attorneys Monday, as Judge William Rumer sought an update on when they would be ready to proceed.
Conner’s trial had been set for Oct. 1, 2018, before his private attorneys J. Mark Shelnutt and William Kendrick informed the court Sept. 17 that they no longer could represent him because he no longer could afford to fund his own defense. They said Conner’s father had been paying them, but he passed away.
Rumer on Sept. 21 shifted Conner’s defense to the publicly funded state capital defender’s office, and set Monday’s hearing for an update.
Conner now is represented by Emily Gilbert and Brad Gardner. Gilbert told the court Monday that she has been involved in 18 death-penalty cases, and Gardner said he has served in 25.
They have spent three months trying to get all the evidence they need through the discovery process during which the defense and prosecution share what they have, Gilbert said. Some of what the defense needs still has not been provided, including computer hard drives seized as evidence, she said.
“So what’s still outstanding is quite voluminous,” she said. The defense also needs an updated witness list, she added.
Senior District Attorney Don Kelly said the computer hard drives authorities seized belonged to Conner and to his girlfriend, Rosella “Mandy” Mitchell, 32, whose charred body was found Aug. 21, 2014, in her 1324 Winifred Lane home along with that of her son, 6-month-old Dylan Ethan Conner.
Investigators have said Mitchell was stabbed to death. They have not said how the baby died.
Mitchell’s computer was in her home, and Conner’s was in an apartment that he was renting, Kelly said. So Conner was not living with Mitchell and their child at the time.
Prosecutors are checking with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to see if it kept copies of what was downloaded from the hard drives, Kelly said. Prosecutors also are trying to get copies of downloads from Mitchell’s cell phone and from Conner’s, he said.
He noted the process of preparing for trial will have to start over, as prospective jurors already had been surveyed for bias and witnesses summoned to open the trial last October. When next a trial date is set, another jury pool will have to be surveyed and assembled, and the witnesses found and notified.
When Rumer asked attorneys to suggest a date for the next pretrial hearing, Gilbert said she was reluctant to propose one until the defense has the evidence it still lacks. Kelly said he hoped to supply that to the defense within 30 days.
Rumer said the defense should get at least 30 days more to review that information, once it is delivered, so the next hearing should be around 60 days out. He set it for 9 a.m. March 22.
Conner’s arrest
Authorities in 2014 were called at 12:35 a.m. to the fire at Mitchell’s home. About 30 minutes later, Officer Jason Swails saw Conner’s blue 2001 BMW turn from Wynnton Road onto Cedar Avenue in midtown as Conner parked near Davis Broadcasting, where he worked. Conner then sat in the car for 10 minutes, the officer said.
Finding that suspicious, Swails questioned Conner, who was shaking and sweating, and told the officer he had just left work. Swails didn’t believe that, because he’d seen Conner turn off Wynnton Road and park. Conner then altered his story, claiming he’d left work to get some food, but changed his mind and returned, Swails said.
Swails arrested Conner for breaking a city law against lying to police. Because officers routinely search suspects being detained, they checked Conner’s pockets, and found a bloody, yellow dishwashing glove, a bloody baby wipe, a cigarette lighter and an extended grill lighter.
Learning of the bodies found on Winifred Lane, police had Conner’s BMW impounded, and got a warrant to search it. Inside they found a bag of bloody clothes, a bottle of bleach and a bent steak knife with blood on the handle, they said.
Arson investigators searched Mitchell’s burned home with a dog that alerted to flammable liquids poured in three places. They also found a gas can stored in a closet. An autopsy revealed Mitchell was stabbed multiple times in the throat and torso.
On April 14, 2015, a grand jury indicted Conner for murder, aggravated battery, first-degree arson and using a knife to commit a crime. Six days later, District Attorney Julia Slater filed notice she would seek the death penalty.
Conner’s is the second case in which Slater has sought capital punishment since she took office in 2009. The first was the fatal shooting of local radio disc jockey Heath Jackson during a burglary at his Carter Avenue home on Sept. 7, 2010.
In May 2013, defendant Ricardo Strozier pleaded guilty to Jackson’s homicide and a string of related crimes. Judge Gil McBride sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 4:55 PM.