Trial date set for Bright

By Editor | August 1, 2019 |

A little more than two weeks after ruling that a Mulberry Grove man is mentally fit to stand trial on murder charges, a judge has set a date for that trial.

During a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, Fayette County Resident Circuit Judge Don Sheafor set a jury trial for Nov. 18 for David Leroy Bright.
Bright, 70, was charged in January of last year with two counts of first-degree murder, with information filed by the office of State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison alleging that Bright caused the death of James Skinner on Sept. 17, 2017, by striking him in the head with a sledgehammer.
On July 12, Sheafor ruled that Bright is mentally fit to stand trial, citing a report from psychiatrist Dr. Terry Killian.
In his report, Killian stated that he asked Bright to name participants present during a court appearance, Bright “mentioned the judge, two lawyers, including his lawyer and lawyer on the other side as being the DA or whatever, and he mentioned that there might be a jury.
“He was able to give a reasonable description of their roles and was able to give a pretty clear description of the working of a plea bargain,” Killian stated in the report.
In his order, Sheafor said “the state did prove by a preponderance of the evidence in this case that the defendant is fit to stand trial or plead.
“This order is based upon the doctor’s report cited and on the doctor’s opinion on the issue of fitness in this cause, which states, ‘It is my opinion, with a reasonable degree of psychiatric certainty, that the Mr. Bright is fit to stand trial.’”
Bright, who is represented by Fayette County Public Defender William Starnes, has been in Fayette County Jail on $1-million bond since his arrest in January of last year.