ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701270057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
The capital murder trial of Earl Bramblett has been rescheduled for late spring.
Mac Doubles, Bramblett's court-appointed attorney, told the court Friday that he needed more time to prepare. The trial had been scheduled to begin Feb.18. A Roanoke County circuit judge granted the request and continued the trial to June10.
"I was anxious to go to trial," Bramblett, 54, said during Friday's hearing. "But I'm not an idiot. I don't want to go to trial until I'm ready. I'm in agreement with any continuance the court orders."
Bramblett has been charged with killing a Vinton couple and their two daughters in August 1994, and with setting fire to their home.
One of the issues delaying the trial is Bramblett's competency, which his lawyers questioned during a hearing this month. Doctors continue to evaluate him, Doubles said after Friday's hearing.
Bramblett has been in jail since he was arrested in July.
He was a longtime friend of the Hodges family, who were found slain in their home the morning of Aug. 29, 1994. Teresa Hodges had been strangled. Her husband, Blaine Hodges, and the couple's two daughters, 11-year-old Winter and 3-year-old Anah, were each shot in the head.
Police charged Bramblett with one count of capital murder, three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of arson. A death sentence is possible.
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