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Friday, 18 March 2016 17:43

Jury tampering uncovered in Horton trial

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Investigation has uncovered jury tampering in the October, 2015, murder trial of Jimmel Horton.

The Halifax County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate to determine if more than one juror was targeted for bribery with illegal narcotics and money in the case, Sheriff Wes Tripp said.

Currently, only one juror, 22-year-old Montrell Lamar Ponton of Weldon has been charged. He is currently at large and faces counts of accepting a bribe as a juror and conspiracy.

Non-jurors who face charges in the case include Horton of Enfield; Keeyona Wilkins, 18; Omar Daquan Ponton, 23; and Tremaine Devon Simmons, 20, all of Weldon.

Of those, Horton remains in the custody of the sheriff's office and Wilkins is incarcerated within the North Carolina Department of Public Safety for unrelated charges.

They face the same charges as Montrell Ponton.

Tripp said the ones other than the juror had alleged involvement in the case by gathering what he described as the large amount of drugs and large amount of money that was be used as bribe payments as well as knowledge of Montrell Ponton's family.

Investigation of the jury tampering came around the time a mistrial was declared in Horton's case. Tripp said in a statement Lieutenant Joseph Sealey became aware of possible jury tampering during the trial process.

Tripp declined comment when asked about any connection to the jury tampering and the mistrial, which was ordered because of a conflict of interest between the attorney representing Horton and his law partner who was representing a person who the state planned to call as a witness in the murder case.

The order declaring the mistrial, however, does not mean Horton will have the charges lodged against him in the 2013 murders of Chris Harrison and Monte Hines dropped.

That is because the mistrial in question involves a conflict of interest between the attorney representing Horton and his law partner who was representing a person the state planned to call as a witness in the case.

At the time, Judge Walter H. Godwin ordered Sammy Webb, who was representing Horton, not to represent him when the case comes back to court, instead ordering Horton be assigned another attorney.

Godwin also said Webb's partner, Jamall Summey, was to sever his ties to Jimmy Ray Daniels, who Summey was representing on matters not tied to the Horton case and the man the state wanted to call as a witness in Horton's trial.

Daniels was since shot and killed in January.

Tripp would not tie the Daniels murder to the jury tampering case and declined to say why Montrell Ponton was targeted for bribe payments.

The sheriff said the case remains under investigation and more arrests are anticipated.

Simmons, Omar Ponton, and Montrell Ponton remain at large.

The family ties between the Pontons could not immediately be established.

Anyone with any information regarding their is encouraged to contact the sheriff’s office at 252-583-8201 or Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.

Read 16553 times Last modified on Friday, 18 March 2016 17:54