Friday, September 27, 2024

Carly Gregg Asks for a New Trial

 Carly Gregg filed a motion for a new trial yesterday in Rankin County Circuit Court.  A jury convicted her last week of first-degree murder and attempted murder and sentenced her to life in prison without parole.  Gregg was 14 years-old when she killed her mother and shot her stepfather on March 19.  The motion also asked Circuit Judge Dewey Arthur to throw out the verdict in the alternative. 

Attorney Bridget Todd filed to motion on behalf of Gregg.  Todd argued: 

* Gregg was not tried by a jury of her peers.  Gregg is 15 years-old.  Jurors must be at least 21 years old to serve on a jury.  However, Mississippi law allows minors such as Gregg to be certified as adults if they commit certain crimes.  Todd posited "these two fundamentally opposing legal standards can not be rectified.  This contradiction in law constitutes a new trial or in the alternative, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict."  

* The state admitted there was an absence of motive.  Since it does not support the verdict, Gregg must get a new trial or a JNOV.  

* Carly's father, Kevin Gregg, was interviewed by WLBT on September 26.  Kevin allegedly said in the unaired portion of the interview that Carly was placed in equestrian therapy as a child "due to experiencing auditory hallucinations (hearing voices).  The new "information" supports Dr. Clark's diagnosis of an unspecified schizophrenic disorder.  Since the new "information" would "likely" lead to a new trial, Gregg is entitled to a new trial. 



* Gregg "timely disclosed her witness list" to the state 13 days prior to trial on September 3.  The discovery was due on August 20 per Judge Arthur's order.  The state did not produce its witness list until September 8.  Todd complained the Court found Gregg "engaged in a willful discovery violation" in order to gain a tactical advantage at trial. The Court struck two defense witnesses.  Todd calls the "radical sanction" improper and a gross violation of Gregg's Sixth Amendment rights.  

Todd argues her client should not be placed in an adult prison or have to wait for the appeals courts to adjudicate this issue.  

*  Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Jason Pickett testified as an expert witness for the prosecution at trial.  Todd said his testimony was "improper, unethical, and highly prejudicial at trial" when he commented on Kevin Gregg's mental condition.  He has no experience dealing with children and thus his testimony was prejudicial against Carly Gregg. 

* The Court erred in granting all of the state's pre-trial, trial, and post-trial motions while denying all of same motions by the defense.  Well, Miss Todd, perhaps you should have filed your motions on time instead of past the deadlines.  

* The sentence violates Gregg's Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. 

The motion does not city any case law or statutes.  


51 comments:

Anonymous said...



"Todd argued:

* Gregg was not tried by a jury of her peers. Gregg is 15 years-old. Jurors must be at least 21 years old to serve on a jury. However, Mississippi law allows minors such as Gregg to be certified as adults if they commit certain crimes. Todd posited "these two fundamentally opposing legal standards can not be rectified. This contradiction in law constitutes a new trial or in the alternative, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict."


Sometimes you wonder, other times you know, why you are reading a novel legal argument.

Anonymous said...

Waahhh I was found guilty. I want a new trial.

Anonymous said...

Taking bets on how quickly it gets denied.

Anonymous said...

Isn't getting this appeal denied the first step on the way to the US Supreme Court?

Exploit completed!

Anonymous said...

Was ineffective assistance of counsel listed?

Anonymous said...

"The motion does not city any case law or statutes. "


Save a tree!

Anonymous said...

If she is legally too young to consent to sex then she should never be tried as an adult. Period. How do you reconcile her mental inability to consent to one and not the other?

Anonymous said...

They should also argue that the judge threw out the motion to use an insanity defense because Carly smoked marajuana. I don't know about you, but I'm not aware of anyone going insane from smoking marajuana. The judge was just one of these rankin county bible thumpers that hates weed.

Anonymous said...

@2:18 PM Au contrair; you obviously haven't watched the peer reviewed documentary "Reefer Madness." Full disclosure: it was peer reviewed by the highly acclaimed scientists Doctors Cheech and Chong.

Anonymous said...

Once again, her family that paid for these idiot attorneys to defend her are morons. She should instead claim ineffective assistance of council. Dewey may agree on that one. 🤣

Anonymous said...

September 27, 2024 at 2:01 PM
No. States have the express right over handling criminal affairs not charged under Federal statutes. The highest it will go is MS Supreme Court. That assumes that the Appeals court hears the case. Which is unlikely.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Camp got the heave ho.

Anonymous said...

US Supreme Court? Uh, no.

Anonymous said...

2:47 Her family did not pay for the attorneys. The attorneys took the case pro bono.

Anonymous said...

@ September 27, 2024 at 2:56 PM
"No. States have the express right over handling criminal affairs not charged under Federal statutes. The highest it will go is MS Supreme Court. That assumes that the Appeals court hears the case. Which is unlikely."

Except maybe when the constitutionality of the state law or court procedure (civil rights) is in question.

Anonymous said...

She will remain behind bars indefinitely while the legal eagles decide what - if anything - to do.

Anonymous said...

We have all been waiting on Todd to show her cards.Go Fish is for preschoolers! Point 5 fingers back at you Bridget. This is on you & Camp!

Anonymous said...

September 27, 2024 at 4:28 PM
And that only applies to MANDATORY life sentence without parole for minors.

Anonymous said...

Does she deserve prison yes but life with no chance of parole? No! Take in mind adults without mental health issues don’t always get life without the chance of parole. She was 14 with mental health issues.

Anonymous said...

Her full-of-shit arguments reminds me of Otter’s speech to the student council in Animal House:
But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!

Anonymous said...

It is unfortunate with Gregg's age she is too young to realize she can get a new trial, but she will have to get a new attorney. I can't see Todd saying she fumbled and bring in help.

Anonymous said...

5:55 for today’s win!

Anonymous said...

I feel like a jury of Carly's peers wrote this motion.

Anonymous said...

Or so has been said - along with a number of other misstatements by the counselors. I imagine that the expert from Harvard didn't come down here for free, nor did the expert they used for several months (and for some 'unknown reason' they chose not to use) provide his services for free. And best I understand the law, the attorneys are not allowed to pay those fees.

While the claim was made that they served pro bono, I'm not sure I believe that any more than I believe that the dog at their homework while they were supposed to be reviewing those 10,000 pages of discovery.

Anonymous said...

Good job, Kingfish. To me, the nail in the coffin...The motion does not cite any case law or statutes.

Anonymous said...

In her pleading she says she is associated with "Cole Todd Legal Group, PLLC," but the actual name of the entity is "Coleman Todd Law Firm, PLLC."

Anonymous said...

Hey Bridget did you listen to Kevin Gregg? He said Carly isn’t INSANE AND KNEW RIGHT FROM WRONG! As far as Dr. Clark, the jury listened & reached a verdict. When a person goes to the doctor, the 1st thing a doctor does is review your past medical history. Not reviewing previous medical records & saying nothing was important until after she killed her mother is unbelievable! Kathryn Newman & co-council did an outstanding job! That is all any of us want to hear along with the entire courtroom staff including the judge & security!

Anonymous said...

The ACLU needs to file a cruel and unusual punishment against the state of Mississippi in Federal Court. Whoever, heard of a 14 year old getting life in prison without parole. Only in Mississippi. Where is the ACLU when you really need them!

Anonymous said...

If her attorneys took the case pro bono, then Carly got what she paid for.

Anonymous said...

@852. Kill your momma and you’ll find out.

Ask Luke what he thinks about it.

Anonymous said...

In response to 8:52, a lot of minors in Mississippi have been sentenced to life without parole for murder.

Anonymous said...

3:27 I doubt Camp got the heave-ho. More likely he gave Todd the heave-ho.

Steve said...

You get what you pay for.

Anonymous said...

"3:27 I doubt Camp got the heave-ho. More likely he gave Todd the heave-ho."

Or maybe ol' el rucio ("Dapple") was the smartest of the bunch and finally had enough of carrying Camp-o Panza...

Anonymous said...

I don't know whether or not Carly Gregg ever actually experienced "auditory hallucinations" (i.e. was "hearing voices") "as a young child", and, IF Carly did, whether or not she was actually "placed in equestrian therapy" for that at the time. But IF she was, that raises this question: Where did Bridget Todd get all that information about Carly? Todd has claimed that that information came from an "unaired" portion of WLBT's interview with Kevin Gregg, Carly's biological father. But according to WLBT, that information was NOT mentioned in that interview. See https://www.wlbt.com/2024/09/27/attorney-carly-gregg-seeking-new-trial/ .

Anonymous said...

If you can’t already tell, Todd makes up her story as she goes, and from my knowledge, she and write some really wild ones!!

Anonymous said...

Also, what did Judge Arthur say or rule when Dona Quixote brought up the alleged "jury of her peers" problem when she saw there was not a single middle- or high-schooler in the jury pool? Was there any voir diring about the jurors' prom plans, acne creams, or favorite Taylor Swift song? I mean, there is at least something in the record about a little ol' thing like a challenge of the entire jury pool...right?

Anonymous said...

Todd’s Motion for New Trial states: “the verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence presented at trial.” Maybe Todd misspoke and meant ‘sentence’ instead of verdict, because the verdict was right on! Face it, Bridget, you can’t rewrite that camera video!!

anonymous said...

for all the rubes out there , relax. 99.9% of new trial motions are denied. spend you time worrying about rednecks jacked on meth driving their monster pickup trucks and trying to blow people off the road. that's the single biggest criminal problem in rankin county.

Kingfish said...

No one thinks Judge Arthur will give her a new trial. It's the arguments that are drawing attention. And the lawyer apparently made up some stuff.

Anonymous said...

I've begun to wonder if some of the interesting information we've been hearing about from Bridget Todd in just the last few days is actually information that she learned from either Ashley's parents (i.e. Carly's maternal grandparents) and/or from Ashley's siblings, but that none of them were willing to testify because they didn't want their family's problems and history to become public knowledge.

For instance, remember this item from https://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2024/09/carly-gregg-case-postgame-show-with.html?m=1:
----------------
*[Melanie] Little [interviewer & New York attorney] asked [Bridget Todd] what was left out "that people should know?" Todd said Ashley Smiley had bi-polar disorder. She was put on Prozac when she became violent at age 14.
----------------
So, Bridget Todd was claiming tIhat ASHLEY SMYLIE "had bipolar disorder" and "was put on Prozac when she became violent at age 14." IF--IF--that's all true, then why didn't Bridget Todd bring ALL of that information to light in Carly's trial? IS IT POSSIBLE that Bridget Todd learned that information from Ashley's biological family but that none of them were willing to testify about that information?

Anonymous said...

There are 22 states that allow juveniles to serve life without parole.

https://cfsy.org/media-resources/states-that-ban-juvenile-life-without-parole/

Anonymous said...

I had forgotten (or missed) that it was attorney Caleb Coleman (with whom attorney Bridget Todd now shares a lawfirm, namely the Coleman Todd Law Firm, PLLC) who wanted the media to be barred from the courtroom: https://www.wlbt.com/2024/05/15/attorney-rankin-co-teen-accused-killing-her-mother-wants-media-out-courtroom/ .
Thankfully, WLBT fought to have the media allowed jn the courtroom:
https://www.wlbt.com/2024/05/23/consider-this-media-should-be-allowed-public-courtroom/ .
And thanfully, Rankin County Judge Dewey K. Arthur ruled that proceedings would remain open:
https://www.wlbt.com/2024/07/23/rankin-co-teen-charged-with-killing-mother-shooting-stepfather-make-court-appearance/

Anonymous said...

Am I understanding that her real pretty attorney wants her judges by her peers? A bunch of 15 year olds? Really? She might be pretty but she sure ain’t smart.

Anonymous said...

The "Jury of one's peers" is an interesting legal argument. An impossible conundrum that will be decided by the Federal Supreme Court, sooner or later.

Anonymous said...

Any bets that the defense team contacted Court TV to provide live coverage of the trial? Publicity hounds? When does the book come out?

Anonymous said...

She misspelled premises as PREMISIS. The motion made my head spin. I dont see if its even worth the paper it's printed on.

Anonymous said...

Are you aware that premisis is singular and premises are plural?

Kingfish said...

She said on the Monday interview she was going to try to get the ACLU and Innocence Project to help. Um, if the ACLU's Paloma Wu is half the attorney I think she is, and she is a good one, she is going to want Todd off the case. Can't pursue ineffectiveness of counsel claim if Todd is on the case.

Anonymous said...

As someone who works closely with both; Court TV decided to do this on their own.

Anonymous said...

thank goodness the ACLU. what about UNCAC?


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