Judge denies accused kidnapper's motion to quash

Judge Alonzo Harris has denied accused kidnapper Mark Savoy’s motion to throw out charges against him.
The denial of a motion argued before Harris on Jan. 21 means the three-year-old case will be rescheduled for trial.
Savoy was initially scheduled for trial last July, but filed through his attorney at the time filed a motion to quash the charges on the day before jury selection began.
He is accused of kidnapping his estranged wife and children from their Eunice home in December 2006 and leading police on a cross-parish chase that ended when he allegedly jumped off an Atchafalaya Basin bridge.
Savoy remained at large until January 2007. A month later he filed a federal suit against parish and Eunice law enforcement officers claiming his rights had been violated. That suit has not gone forward in federal court.
In the July 2009 motion, filed by an attorney who subsequently asked and was granted permission to withdraw from the case, Savoy asserted that special bond conditions prevented him from contacting alleged victims or witnesses to assist in preparing his defense.
The defendant has “suffered loss of employment and the psychological burden of futile court appearances and numerous requests for trial,” the motion asserts.
Savoy claimed the delay has substantially prejudiced his ability to defend himself “because memory has failed and he is unable to recall where he was on the alleged date of the offense nor can he recall circumstances surrounding the alleged facts or witnesses.”
At January’s hearing, through his current appointed attorney Shepton Hunter, Savoy claimed that the state created a twisted path toward trial by first trying his client in the media, creating “a St. Landry Parish legend” known as the bridge-jumper for what he described as a domestic matter.
That notoriety, Hunter claimed, created a valid move to change venue.
Delay requested by the state in hearing that argument pushed the case past a trial date within two years of the state’s amended bill of information. And that requires dismissal, he argued.
Assistant DA Glen Marcantel asserted a venue action suspends prescription until it is resolved.
Harris in March 2009 denied Savoie’s motion to move the trial to another parish, saying he could not get a fair trial in St. Landry because of publicity regarding alleged circumstances of the case. The judge did rule the defense could raise that issue anew at trial if it appeared to be a valid one during jury selection.
Once that ruling occurred, Marcantel argued, the prescription clock re-started, only to be stopped by the July quash motion.
“We contend the clock begins anew, and we have one year, from today or from the day of your ruling on this motion,” he said, noting that should Harris rule for Savoie, the point would be moot.
He said delays in the case are a result of Savoie’s actions or those of his attorneys. Hunter is his third.
The District Attorney’s Office last August filed amended charges of three counts of second-degree kidnapping and aggravated flight from an officer.