Christopher Chandler, 24, of Georgetown, and Amanda Tolson, of 348 Hill St., are both facing murder charges for their son Lucas' death on March 25, 2009. (Photos submitted) |
It will be another six months before the parents stand trial for the death of their 16-day-old son.
Amanda Tolson, 24, and Christopher Chandler, 25, were to be tried for murder next month in the death of their son Lucas.
Thursday afternoon, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Charles Johnson asked to postpone the case until the fall due to the number of doctors expected to testify in the case.
“This trial could actually have seven physicians in it,” Johnson told Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse. “We intend on calling them all (to testify) live. If we don’t have lots of lead time, we’ll never get all the doctors here.”
Those physicians could include out-of-state experts, he said.
Clouse set aside five days for the trial, beginning Oct. 24, and said it could be extended if needed.
The trial was already postponed once, from October 2010 to April 2011, while attorneys were waiting for evidence and reports from analyses to be completed and distributed.
Chandler, of Georgetown, and Tolson, of 348 Hill St., were arrested in February 2010, nearly a year after their son died in the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
An autopsy determined that Lucas Chandler died from a blunt force injury to the head and a skull fracture. There were no other injuries.
Police said Chandler and Tolson took Lucas to the hospital three days before he died and said he wasn’t breathing properly.
Police don’t know what caused the skull fracture and found nothing when they searched the home after Lucas was admitted to the hospital.
At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Tolson got another chance to make bond. While Chandler was released after posting a $50,000 bond months ago, Tolson and her family have not been able to post her bond, either with cash or property. Initially, Clouse denied the oral motion from Tolson’s attorney, Carl Gibson, for a reduced bond.
Later Thursday, Gibson and Chandler’s attorney returned with an offer from Chandler’s mother to let his bond cover both defendants.
Clouse denied that, but was reminded that $20,000 of Chandler’s bond was set aside to secure experts for the case. Clouse relented and reduced Tolson’s bond to $30,000 in cash or property.
Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com.
