|
Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson filed the
motion asking that he and other prosecutors in his office be
recused and that a special prosecutor be appointed.
"Due to the fact that I have become, through no fault of my own,
a witness in the case, I cannot remain the prosecutor," Davidson
said in the motion.
Davidson did not specify how he has become a witness but filed
the motion ahead of a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Tuesday,
when Tiede was due back in court.
A Texas appeals court ruled in November that Tiede, 56, was
entitled to reconsideration of his sentence of life in prison
for the murder of wealthy 81-year-old East Texas widow, Marjorie
Nugent. He had been convicted of shooting her to death in 1996
and hiding her body in a freezer.
Attorneys for Tiede argued that new evidence suggested he was
sexually abused as a child, which caused him to snap and shoot
Nugent in a fit of rage.
The jury ruled out sudden passion and sentenced Tiede in 1999 to
the maximum of life in prison for premeditated murder.
Tiede was released from prison on a $10,000 personal bond last
May and had been living with "Bernie" filmmaker Richard
Linklater in Austin.
A dark comedy, "Bernie" chronicles the relationship between
Nugent and Tiede, who left his job as an assistant funeral
director in the town of Carthage to become business manager and
personal companion to Nugent.
The film stars Jack Black as Tiede, Shirley McLaine as Nugent,
and Matthew McConaughey as Davidson.
Nugent's heirs have been pressing to have Tiede returned to
prison and prosecuted for stealing around $3.5 million from her.
(Editing by Curtis Skinner and Clarence Fernandez)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
