After avoiding sentencing for nearly two months following his conviction on 2nd Degree murder charges, Steven Swinford will appear before Chelan County Superior Court Judge Lesley Allen Friday afternoon @ 2PM to receive his punishment for shooting his best fiend Paul Raney to death in January of 2011.

 

Originally scheduled for sentencing in early March, Swinford’s hearing was postponed after his defense attorney Jeremy Ford filed a motion for a new trial in late February citing prosecutorial misconduct by Chelan County Deputy Prosecutor Doug Shay. Ford claims Prosecutor Shae unfairly influenced jurors in closing arguments of the murder trial which resulted in his client’s conviction for shooting Paul Raney seven times with a 45 caliber handgun in a Manson home they shared.

 

Judge Allan will first listen to defense arguments for a  retrial on Friday and then likely issue a ruling from the bench before moving on to the sentencing phase. In the unlikely event that a retrial is granted the sentencing phase would be cancelled and a new trial date would be set. However defense retrial motions are standard practice and Judge Allan would have to contradict an earlier ruling she issued during closing arguments of the murder trial in February.

 

KOZI will be in the courtroom Friday and will pass that information on to you as the story unfolds. Stay tuned and keep an eye on our website and our facebook page.