While Lovette jury deliberates, taxpayers foot bill
DURHAM (WTVD) -- Jurors got back to work Tuesday deliberating in the second murder trial for Eve Carson killer Laurence Lovette.
In addition to the March 2008 slaying of the UNC student body president, prosecutors allege Lovette shot Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato the previous January.
Both cases are very similar. Carson and Mahato were kidnapped and driven to bank ATMs to clean out their bank accounts before they were murdered.
Friends found Mahato's body in his apartment. His killer placed a pillow over his face before shooting him between the eyes.
According to the NC Administrative Office of the Court, the average daily cost of a Superior Court Criminal trial is $6,216. Some quick math suggests Lovette's second murder trial is costing taxpayers more than $74,500 (and counting).
With a few jurors running behind Tuesday morning, court was delayed by about 40 minutes. The jurors seemed alert and were all dressed in comfortable clothes, including those who've worn professional attire at times.
Before retiring to the jury room, Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin addressed the questions jurors sent out before leaving for the day Monday.
Hardin let them carefully review 5 of 8 photos of Mahato's bedroom and other documents related to the state's key witness Shanita Love's February 2009 statement.
Just as Hardin was explaining to the jury that he would not answer their question about the absence of witnesses, Tikoya Maybrey entered the courtroom and sat down next to Lovette's grandmother.
Maybrey is the sister of Lovette's accomplice in the Carson murder - Demario Atwater. She was compelled to testify in the Mahato case and was treated as a hostile witness by the prosecution.
If the jury was paying close attention Tuesday, they also got to see Atwater's brother Phillip Maybrey.
The Durham DA's office has said it's considering possible charges against him in connection with Mahato's murder.
ABC11 spoke briefly with Phillip Maybrey in the hallway. He declined to comment on the possible charges against him. Maybrey initially told police he was with Lovette at the Anderson Street Apartments and was within earshot of the fatal gun blast.
But, Maybrey would later testify in court that he lied to investigators and denied he was at the crime scene.
The jury went home for the day around 5 p.m. and will return Wednesday morning.
