By Barry Porterfield
Finding the right court date for a death penalty murder case involving a Wynnewood defendant has almost become a trial day two-step maneuver.
The many different schedules of all the principal characters has remained a major hurdle in setting a specific time in the first-degree murder trial of Franklin Green, 62.
Green is accused of brutally gunning down his wife, Gloria Hunter Green, on April 10, 2007 during a tragic confrontation on a downtown Wynnewood street.
Minutes later he surrendered to Wynnewood police and has remained locked behind county jail bars ever since awaiting trial.
For now it appears that trial will come in October after all the different factors continued to lead defense and prosecuting attorneys, along with Garvin County District Judge Candace Blalock, to a variety of times
“When we last met we had some unresolved issues — the most important one being setting the date of the jury trial,” Blalock said during a hearing in a Pauls Valley courtroom this week.
Looking on during the proceeding was Green as he sat shackled and dressed in an orange inmate suit from the Garvin County jail.
Green’s trial had been set for later this month but recently was pushed back to September.
That time and even October appeared to be problem for one prosecutor, Susan Caswell, while Blalock indicated other trials in McClain County were set for her in October.
“This is such a headache. Counselors bring up your calendars,” Blalock said from the judge’s bench.
Craig Corgan, one of two attorneys assigned to defend Green, suggested a December start to the trial because of other cases he had scheduled later on in early 2009.
The prospects of a court date turned around when Blalock, while seated on bench, got on the phone to speak with another judge about the possibility of rescheduling another trial planned for Caswell.
That other case was indeed postponed opening up an Oct. 14 date as the start of Green’s trial in Garvin County District Court.
