The murder trial of Leslie Sharp is set to begin Monday at the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.
Sharp, 21, of Starkville, is accused in the November 2008 killing of Christopher Cole, then 20, of Mathiston, at the corner of Rockhill and Kelly Road. She has claimed self-defense.
Court officials believe jury selection will last several hours and possibly longer. Testimony will begin after a jury is paneled.
Sharp was initially charged with manslaughter but the charge was changed to murder in 2010.
According to an incident report, on the day of his death, Cole was followed by a car containing four females as he drove in his truck. He had allegedly been caught “two-timing” one of the women.
Cole pulled over to confront the women and began arguing with one woman who exited the car. The argument became physical before Cole turned his attention to the driver of the car. He allegedly pulled a .32-caliber revolver from his waistband and fired one round, but court documents don”t state where the shot was fired.
Sharp then exited the back seat of the car with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. Court documents state Cole aimed his weapon at Sharp and pulled the trigger several times but the weapon misfired. Sharp returned fire, firing 10 shots, striking Cole with seven.
Cole”s weapon was recovered with one empty casing and four live rounds which were dented by the gun”s hammer.
Pretrial hearings saw Sharp”s attorney accuse the district attorney”s office of withholding information, witness statements and witness names and addresses, and complain of slow results on behalf of the state crime lab. The attorney also criticized the Mississippi Highway Patrolman who investigated the case of shoddy work for offering a transcript of Sharp”s statement which was missing 12 pages worth of dialogue.
The highway patrolman blamed the omission on a technical error.
Sharp and another witness also claimed they were threatened by members of Cole”s family.
Judge Lee Howard has permitted the inclusion of information recounting drug charges pending against Cole in Clay County at the time of his death.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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