ATLANTA — The trial against Ryan Duke in the murder of Tara Grinstead will proceed, after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled against his attempt to file a pre-trial appeal.
Duke is accused of killing Grinstead, a school teacher and beauty queen in Ocilla, Georgia, in 2005.
Police say he and his friend, Bo Dukes, tried to cover up the crime by burning the body in a pecan orchard in South Georgia.
Duke, who is being represented pro bono by private counsel, had argued he was entitled to public funding for expert witnesses and investigators in order to mount a proper defense.
The trial court denied him that, and he appealed to the Supreme Court.
The state’s highest court ruled against him largely on process grounds, saying he did not obtain the proper approval from the trial court in order to pursue his argument before the Supreme Court on an interlocutory appeal (an appeal of an element of a trial - in this case, the matter of public funds to aid Duke’s defense - while the trial is ongoing).
“Because the trial court did not issue a certificate of immediate review in this case, this Court is without jurisdiction to consider Duke’s application for interlocutory appeal,” the Supreme Court’s ruling said. “His application is therefore dismissed.”
Duke, who says he is indigent and jobless, is being represented for free by Ashleigh and John Merchant of The Merchant Law Firm in Marietta.
Bo Dukes, the friend also charged in the case, has already been sentenced to 25 years in prison after admitting he burned the body and tried to cover up the crime.
MORE ON THE TARA GRINSTEAD CASE