Jury debates sentence in capital murder trial

The punishment phase of the Leon County trial of Jerry Duane Martin began on Tuesday, December 1 and jurors heard closing arguments on Monday, December 7, then went into deliberations. As of press time Tuesday morning, no sentence had been agreed upon.

The jury, composed of seven women and five men, had delivered a verdict of guilty of the charge of capital murder on Monday afternoon November 30, the eighth day of the trial, after deliberating approximately two hours.

Martin was responsible for the death of a Huntsville prison guard, Susan Canfield, during an escape attempt in 2007. After his accomplise, John Ray Folk, wrestled a rifle from Canfield, Martin struck her and/or the horse on which she was mounted with the one-ton Ford pickup they were using for their escape, and Canfield was killed.