Judge won't bar prosecutor from 'Facebook murders' cases

ELIZABETHTON — A Criminal Court judge on Thursday denied a defense motion to bar a prosecutor from participating further in the so-called “Facebook murder” cases.Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood ruled against a defense motion from three attorneys representing the remaining defendants in the murder case stemming from the Jan. 31, 2012, shooting deaths of Billy Payne Jr., 36, and Billie Jean Hayworth, 23, in Johnson County.The attorneys asked Blackwood to change the trial location, toss a state witness and force Assistant District Attorney General Dennis Brooks to withdraw.It’s detailed in the motion last week by Cameron Hyder, attorney for Jenelle Potter; Casey Sears, attorney for Jamie Curd; and Randy Fallin, attorney for Barbara Potter.A fourth person, Marvin Potter, 61, already went to trial and was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder.Payne and Hayworth were murdered at their 128 James Davis Lane, Mountain City, residence. Both were shot in the head and Payne’s throat was slashed. Hayworth was shot while holding her 6-month-old son, prosecutor said, but the baby was uninjured and left in his dead mother’s arms.The killings came as a result of a social media dispute between the couple and Jenelle Potter that ended in her being “defriended” on Facebook, prosecutors said. Marvin Potter and Curd, a friend of the Potters, are allegedly the two who actually killed Payne and Hayworth, and prosecutors have not detailed what role Barbara and Jenelle Potter played in the murders. After the women were indicted, Brooks only said investigators spent countless tedious hours obtaining email communications in order to charge them.Because of pretrial publicity, Blackwood moved the trial from Johnson County to Washington County, and the jury was comprised of Washington County residents.But that was not enough to give the remaining three defendants a fair trial, their attorneys claimed. They wanted Blackwood to go one step further by bringing jurors in from outside the immediate region.On the issue of asking Blackwood to prevent a state witness from testifying and requiring Brooks to recuse himself, the defense claimed there was a personal, although not romantic, relationship between Brooks and the witness, who also happens to be Marvin and Barbara Potter’s daughter and the sister of Jenelle Potter.The woman, Christine Groover, wrote a Letter to the Editor at the Johnson City Press after her father’s conviction praising Brooks’ efforts and called Brooks by his first name and referenced knowing his wife.Brooks is seeking election in the Republican Primary for a Criminal Court judgeship held by retiring Judge Robert Cupp.Keep visiting JohnsonCityPress.com for more on this developing story.



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