Defense wants to delay rape/murder trial
Last Updated on 3/16/2010
Published on 6/21/2009
Defense wants to delay rape/murder trial
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com
Shane Lawshe is innocent. He didn't do it.
That's what his attorney, Tommy Brittain said Friday -- without further elaboration -- when asked about the defense Lawshe will use when his death penalty case goes to trial.
He is accused of murder, kidnapping, rape and arson in connection with the Sept. 26, 2007 death of Litchfield Beach resident Julianne Blakeley.
When Lawshe's trial takes place is up in the air. It was originally scheduled for March and was pushed back until July 20.
Brittain, who spoke to the Times after Friday's story about the case was published, said he has made an official motion seeking a continuance in the case.
It will now be up to Circuit Court Judge Jimmy Williams to decide if a delay will be granted or if the case will proceed as planned, as is being requested by the Solicitor's Office.
"We have to make sure we do all we can when we are representing this man the state wants to kill," Brittain said about the continuance request.
He said he needs more time to collect information that is prudent to an adequate defense.
One thing needed, Brittain said, are more DNA documents that have been examined by experts.
"This is a situation where we have to cross every 't' and dot every 'i,'" he said.
Lawshe -- who has been housed at the Georgetown County Detention Center since he was arrested Oct. 3, 2007, in Horry County -- met Blakeley when he was painting her house.
Authorities learned of Blakeley's death after responding to a fire call at her home. A neighbor spotted smoke coming from the house and called 911.
Investigators say after stabbing Blakeley to death, Lawshe set fires in various parts of the house and fled the scene. Workers from Midway Fire Rescue extinguished the flames and then found Blakeley's lifeless body on an upstairs bed.
Early in the investigation, Lawshe -- who had worked on Blakeley's home repairing water damage in early September -- was considered a prime suspect.
He was arrested while sitting in traffic at a swing bridge in Little River when an alert motorist recognized his vehicle and called 911.
