|
 Defense lawyers are expected to say the child's death was not the
fault of the grandmother, Joyce Hardin Garrard, who has been charged
with capital murder.
Opening statements in the trial are set to come after a jury
selection process that lasted nearly three weeks and after the judge
in the case refused the defense's request to move the trial to a
venue where it less well known.
Garrard is accused of forcing Savannah Hardin to run non-stop for
three hours at her home in Etowah County, in northeast Alabama, in
February 2012, as punishment for lying about having eaten forbidden
chocolates.
 The girl collapsed, went into seizures and died days later at a
Birmingham hospital from dehydration and low sodium, a condition
common in marathon runners, authorities have said.
The girl, a third-grader, suffered from unspecified medical issues
that resulted in frequent doctors visits, according to court
documents. Defense attorneys have said that it was her medical
condition, and not the punishment, that caused her death.
[to top of second column] |
Savannah Hardin's stepmother, Jessica Mae Hardin, has also been
charged with murder in the case, for allegedly witnessing the
punishment and failing to intervene.
The girl lived with her father, who frequently traveled for work and
was out of town at the time of the incident, authorities have said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
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Case
to open against woman accused of running granddaughter to death
