Fast Feed: Man convicted of muder in the death of Anne Pressly
Cecily Long
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: News
Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, was found guilty Wednesday for capitol murder in the death of KATV news reporter, Anne Pressly.
He is facing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
If the jury cannot settle on a penalty, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza must impose the life sentence.
Witnesses who testified for the prosecution included, the first officer who went to Pressly's house, an ER doctor, nurse and Pressly's mother Patti Cannady.
Cannady became emotional on the stand while describing her daughter the day she found her covered in blood and struggling to breathe.
,"It was horrific. I couldn't imagine what I was seeing… I couldn't recognize my own daughter." Cannady said when she found her daughter." Cannady also said she told her, "Momma's here, Momma's here." Cannady said that she is still in shock from the ordeal.
When the nurse, a sexual assault nurse examiner, Carla Jackson, took the stand she said that Pressly suffered trauma all over her body.
Jackson stated the wounds consisted of "massive" head trauma, which caused her death.
Vance's lawyer, Teri Chambers, told jurors that too much was lacking from the state's case to warrant a conviction.
She said tests showing that hair found at the scene was similar to Vance's were not precise enough to prove a connection.
"This evidence means nothing. You cannot base a conviction on it," Chambers said.
She also repeated claims that police fed Vance information about the case so he would give it back to officers in the form of a confession.
He is facing a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
If the jury cannot settle on a penalty, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza must impose the life sentence.
Witnesses who testified for the prosecution included, the first officer who went to Pressly's house, an ER doctor, nurse and Pressly's mother Patti Cannady.
Cannady became emotional on the stand while describing her daughter the day she found her covered in blood and struggling to breathe.
,"It was horrific. I couldn't imagine what I was seeing… I couldn't recognize my own daughter." Cannady said when she found her daughter." Cannady also said she told her, "Momma's here, Momma's here." Cannady said that she is still in shock from the ordeal.
When the nurse, a sexual assault nurse examiner, Carla Jackson, took the stand she said that Pressly suffered trauma all over her body.
Jackson stated the wounds consisted of "massive" head trauma, which caused her death.
Vance's lawyer, Teri Chambers, told jurors that too much was lacking from the state's case to warrant a conviction.
She said tests showing that hair found at the scene was similar to Vance's were not precise enough to prove a connection.
"This evidence means nothing. You cannot base a conviction on it," Chambers said.
She also repeated claims that police fed Vance information about the case so he would give it back to officers in the form of a confession.
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