District Attorney queries lack of written notice of appeal

Derrick Todd Lee, 36, of St. Francisville was convicted of killing Charlotte Murray Pace on May 31, 2002, at her Sharlo Avenue home; the jury recommended that he be sentenced to death. He has been on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola since that date. On the day he was sentenced his attorney stated in open court that the conviction and sentence would be appealed.

First Assistant District Attorney John Sinquefield has requested a hearing before state District Judge Richard Anderson to find out why no written notice of an appeal had yet been filed. Defense attorney Marcia Widder claimed that following the verbal notice of appeal, no further application was necessary. Sinquefield argued the lengthy appeal cannot start until Widder files the necessary paperwork. Although maintaining that it is not necessary, Widder, "out of an abundance of caution," has now filed a written motion notifying the prosecution that Lee is appealing his conviction and sentence.