Bob Shell

I posted this because it has been difficult to find out information on what is going on. No matter what one thinks it will be good to finally see a resolution in the way of trial or the prosecutor dropping it.

The 'criminal' justice system screws Shell no matter what happens just as they do most involved. Win, lose or a hung jury he is tarred for the experience. No recourse against prosecutors if the verdict is Not Guilty and the jurors give interviews saying it is all a crock and nothing he can do even if it is purely political.

Being tried in the media is part of the deal. You get charged and if the news folk find it of interest they will write/broadcast about it. You are stuck.

As for the age difference between Bob and the model, what does it matter? If he were a $1.5 million a year CEO no one would worry about that.

WarEaglemtn said:

No matter what one thinks it will be good to finally see a resolution in the way of trial or the prosecutor dropping it.

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I looked up the statutes in the Virginia Criminal Code under which he's being charged. The prosecution has a mighty tough row to hoe in proving any of these charges, which is I think why they brought so many of them.

As I look over the wording of the law it looks more and more to me like a witch hunt. Even if he's acquitted, his reputation will be tainted forever. Not to mention the cost of defending himself which is ruinous in and of itself.

I hope he gets off completely.

All prosecutors overcharge on any "crime". Most cases don't go to trial and are pleaded out.

Overcharging is just a part of the pleading out game because in most cases you'll plead out to the lesser charge that you should have initially been charged with in the first place.

The justice system is a joke, until you're caught up in it.


Michael

Bob Shell new Attorney/trial update

Two from the Roanoke Times Dead Link Removed


Saturday, September 16, 2006E-mail this story Print this story Get RSS feeds Share this story Digg this story Mark in Ma.gnolia Tag with del.icio.us Seed Newsvine Post to Google Base Add to Yahoo! Related at Technorati New attorney starts Shell case
Independence-based attorney Jonathon Venzie was appointed to the case Friday after Bob Shell's former attorney Gil Davis withdrew to seek treatment for a medical condition.
By Shawna Morrison
381-1665

RADFORD--Photographer Bob Shell was appointed a new attorney Friday, his third since he was charged in connection with the 2003 death of his model and lover, Marion Franklin.

A trial for Shell was scheduled to begin Monday and last two weeks, but has been postponed because of the change in lawyers.

His former attorney Gil Davis withdrew from the case last week to seek treatment for an undisclosed medical condition.

Circuit Judge Joey Showalter appointed Independence-based attorney Jonathon Venzie to the case.

Court officials tried to call Venzie on Friday morning to set a new trial date but he couldn't be reached, so a date will be set Sept. 22, Showalter said.

Shell, 59, is charged with supplying the morphine that killed 19-year-old Franklin on June 3, 2003. Franklin, formerly of Boone, N.C., died after a photo shoot at Shell's West Main Street studio.

He faces several charges, including murder, defiling a corpse and drug charges.

The trial was originally scheduled to take place in March 2004 but has been postponed several times.

Davis had requested that Showalter postpone the trial until he returns from a 14-week medical treatment at Duke University. Showalter refused, so Davis withdrew.

On Sept. 7, Showalter gave Shell until Friday to find a new attorney. But Shell had said he had no money to pay an attorney.

In court Friday, he told Showalter, "I've had no luck so far in finding an attorney so I assume you'll have to appoint one for me."

Shell said Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak was given six months to get up to speed on the case when he took it over in 2004.

He said he hopes Venzie will be awarded the same amount of time.

"I have seven banker boxes full of papers" related to the case that Venzie will need to become familiar with, Shell said after court. "It's a very complicated case."

Venzie couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

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Saturday, September 02, 2006E-mail this story Print this story Get RSS feeds Share this story Digg this story Mark in Ma.gnolia Tag with del.icio.us Seed Newsvine Post to Google Base Add to Yahoo! Related at Technorati Another delay in photographer's trial?
The high-profile attorney who has been representing Bob Shell on charges including murder withdraws.
By Shawna Morrison
381-1665

A trial scheduled to begin this month for Bob Shell, the Radford photographer charged in the 2003 death of his 19-year-old model and lover, is likely to be postponed again.

Shell, 59, is accused of supplying the morphine that killed Marion Franklin, formerly of Boone, N.C., in his West Main Street studio June 3, 2003. He faces a murder charge as well as three counts of defiling a corpse, attempted forcible sodomy, attempted animate object penetration, animate object penetration and four drug charges.

Shell's Fairfax-based attorney, Gil Davis, has filed a letter with Circuit Judge Joey Showalter saying that he will be undergoing treatment at Duke University for at least 14 weeks for an undisclosed medical condition.

Davis, a high-profile Northern Virginia attorney who represented Paula Jones in her sexual harassment case against President Clinton, last week asked Showalter to postpone the jury trail. It is scheduled to begin Sept. 18 and to last two weeks.

Showalter refused to postpone, so Davis plans to withdraw from the case.

In a letter to Showalter, he wrote: "Unfortunately, my medical condition is such that I must deal with it immediately."

Davis couldn't be reached for comment Friday, and Shell said he didn't know the details of Davis' condition.

A motion to withdraw was to be presented Friday morning in Radford Circuit Court. Showalter said he didn't want to proceed in Davis' absence, though, so the hearing was postponed to Thursday.

Unless Shell can find another attorney before then, he will request a court-appointed attorney.

However, Shell said Friday he has no money to pay an attorney. Shell isn't allowed to leave the state, something he says is a necessity in his line of work.

"If there is a good trial lawyer in the area who would like to right a serious wrong and take on my case on a no-fee basis I would certainly like to hear from him or her," he said.

Davis said in July that he hadn't been paid by Shell but wanted to stick with the case anyway.

Shell's trial was originally scheduled for March 2004 but has been continued several times.

"If they give me a new lawyer, it's going to take that lawyer a long time to get up to speed on the case," Shell said Friday.

Ideally, he said, a continuance will be granted and Davis will be able to remain on the case. Davis said in his letter, though, that he has no idea when he'll be able to return to his practice.

This from the Roanoke Times, 9 Oct, 2006

Murder trial for photographer reset for spring
By Shawna Morrison
381-1665

RADFORD -- The trial for Radford photographer Bob Shell has been rescheduled for next spring.

The trial was scheduled to begin Sept. 18 and continue for two weeks, but had to be delayed after Shell's attorney, Northern Virginia lawyer Gil Davis, withdrew from the case to seek treatment for an undisclosed medical condition.

Shell, 59, is charged with murder in connection with the 2003 death of his model and lover, Marion Franklin.

He is charged with supplying the morphine that killed the 19-year-old and faces other charges, including defiling a corpse and drug charges.

Shell's trial was originally scheduled to begin in March 2004 but has been delayed several times.

On Friday morning in Radford Circuit Court, a new trial date was set for April 30. The trial is to continue two weeks. The case will be heard by a jury.

Any news on the Bob Shell Debacle?

I never heard what the heck happened with that. Orange pyjamas or not?

He's in the phone book. Google him, call, and ask how it's going. I think the local paper is busy with other news for the time being.

Lee

eh. no thanks. think I'll pass on that one.

Sparky said:

I never heard what the heck happened with that. Orange pyjamas or not?

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It's still dragging on with no resolution. I spoke to him a few days ago. The whole situation is Kafkaesque. The Commonwealth keeps shifting its ground; the chain of custody of the evidence is completely discredited; any sane prosecutor would have given up.

Cheers,

R.

THis seems a common pattern of DA behavior -- just keep dragging people through a bureaucratic box of dog poo and broken glass until they finally decide to plea bargain ANYTHING just to make the process stop.

Lots of stories like that on PhotoPermit, completely bogus cases against photographers that are groundless or unconstitutional but rather than being droipped the counties and PDs involved like to offer the wronged party the "opportunity to confess" rather than admit their screwups. And sadly, a lot of wronged citizens take that bait.

I am sure that there are "completely bogus cases against photographers that are groundless or unconstitutional" . I am also pretty sure that there are others that are not so bogus.
http://lacountymurders.com/wanted/LADIES1.html

Shell is innocent until proven guilty.
So is the DA.

CraigK said:

Shell is innocent until proven guilty.
So is the DA.

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Dear Craig,

No doubt. But 'justice delayed is justice denied' and the delay is four YEARS this June.

The DA is free to get on with his life. Bob isn't.

Cheers,

R.

"The DA is free to get on with his life. Bob isn't."

Quite true.

I don't ordinarily follow matters of private justice, like the OJ trial. Being a lawyer, I don't find them entertaining. Not being in the jury box, and hearing only the evidence published by the news media, I don't find myself properly equipped to form my own opinions.

But I have followed the Shell case, to the extent that is possible at arm's length. The conceded prosecutorial misconduct in the case shocks the conscience. And to leave a man accused of murder waiting four years for a trial mocks the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a "speedy trial."

In moments like these, it embarrasses me to admit that I am a lawyer from Virginia.

Sanders McNew

I think we all know just how far a DA can go to screw up innocent lives. A new verb may even be created to describe DA misconduct: "to Nifong" (see; http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/13/duke.lawsuit.ap/index.html) As in "Bob Shell is being Nifonged"

However, just to play devil's advocate here:
"'justice delayed is justice denied' and the delay is four YEARS this June." Is the entire 4 year delay the fault of the DA? I am not vrey familiar with the case, I've only read a snippet about it here and there, but I seem to remember that there were a series of strange delays. Didn't at least one Judge either quit or die? And isn't Mr. Shell now with a second lawyer for some reason? Maybe the DA is Nifonging here. Maybe he isn't. I don't think we will know until it is all over.

"The DA is free to get on with his life. Bob isn't." Again, to play devil's advocate, the only one who we know for sure will never get on with her life is the deceased. If that is due to criminal conduct on the part of Mr. Shell, he should be held responsible. If on the other hand it is not, he should be allowed to get on with his life. If the DA is acting reclessly and with malice then maybe he should face charges. Either way, the real trial will hopefully happen soon in a real court.

So far though it seems that the court of public opinion smells a rat.

Craig, you are right that some of the delay has been imposed by circumstance. But a lot of it, as best as the public record suggests, has been prosecutorial discretion. And given the way the prosecutors have balloxed up the evidence in the case, their delay comes as no surprise.

This is a travesty all around. My sense is that Bob likely committed no crime. No person wrongly accused should live under that kind of pall for four years. But if Bob did commit murder, then a terrible public injustice has been committed by the prosecutor's delay. Regardless of the outcome, this is an unforgivable state of affairs.

Sanders

CraigK said:

So far though it seems that the court of public opinion smells a rat.

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So let's try him on internet fora or on American Idol...

Lee

CraigK said:

So far though it seems that the court of public opinion smells a rat.

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Let me rephrase it for you: "Of course he's guilty, otherwise why would he be a suspect?"

Actually the rat I was refering to is the DA. From what I have read in fora etc. it seems that most people commenting on the case believe that the DA is over reaching.

4 years? Ya, that's nuts. If he is guilty then it is 4 years too long for justice to be served. If he is innocent, then it is 4 years too long to be living such a nightmare.

Like it or not however, there is such a thing as a court of public opinion. One of the Lacrosse players recently cleared of rape charges in the US put it best when he said that no matter what he ends up doing in his life, no matter what his great achievements, when he dies, the line in the local paper will say "So and so...one of the Lacrosse player that was accused of rape has died".

Craig,

Point taken on the comment referring to the DA. However, I still don't think that discussion of the case here is in any way meaningful or helpful, just as the coverage and public discussion of the Duke incident was predominantly ridiculous and prejudicial, especially at the beginning, more about the commenters than the facts of the case.

As for the court of public opinion and the cost to the Duke lacrosse players, why is it that I know Nifong's name and none of the players' names, and associate Nifong's with malfeasance? The people who presumed guilt are the ones who have made themselves look ridiculous, not the falsely accused.

Lee

Whether he is guilty or not, by his own admission he was doing dubious things. I don't agree with what he stands for, but the man should get a trial for cryin' out loud. Isn't this supposed to be the land of the free etc.? Where did his rights go?

there is a good oped in the Wash Post that discusses how bad the media played the Duke case and how craven some within the media are with regard to Imus and self promotion.

From Bob

I appreciate the interest in my situation. For obvious reasons I can not make public comments on the details of my case.

I will only say that I have done nothing wrong, have committed no crimes, have broken no laws. Everything that has appeared in the press is speculation since I have not given any of them interviews or commented on the record.

What should have been a personal tragedy for me and Marion's family and friends has been turned into something else solely for political reasons.

I would prefer that my case not be discussed on photography forums, since none of you know the facts. Once this is over I will tell my story.

With my best wishes to all of you,

Bob Shell
www.bobshell.com

BobShell said:

I appreciate the interest in my situation. For obvious reasons I can not make public comments on the details of my case.

I will only say that I have done nothing wrong, have committed no crimes, have broken no laws. Everything that has appeared in the press is speculation since I have not given any of them interviews or commented on the record.

What should have been a personal tragedy for me and Marion's family and friends has been turned into something else solely for political reasons.

I would prefer that my case not be discussed on photography forums, since none of you know the facts. Once this is over I will tell my story.

With my best wishes to all of you,

Bob Shell
www.bobshell.com

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And our very best wishes to you too, Bob.

Cheers,

R.