Appeals court upholds rejection of new trial plea
A state appeals court has upheld the decision of a Fayette County judge who denied a new trial for a former state police trooper convicted of murdering his estranged wife’s paramour. Montgomery Goodwin, convicted of third-degree murder in the 1987 shooting death of Eugene Williams, had petitioned for a new trial before Judge Steve P. Leskinen. Goodwin claimed his trial attorneys were ineffective on several counts, including their alleged failure to discuss evidence with him.
Leskinen denied Goodwin’s request for a new trial last December and Goodwin appealed the decision to the state Superior Court.
Last week, the court handed down the decision from a three-judge panel, affirming Leskinen’s determination that there was not enough evidence to have a second trial.
This was not Goodwin’s first go-around on the county level. Several years ago, he unsuccessfully petitioned a visiting judge to let him out of jail early because of various medical ailments.
The visiting judge and prosecutors from the attorney general’s office were called in to handle the case because of Goodwin’s 21-year background in law enforcement. Leskinen was able to hear the case because he was neither in the district attorneys office nor on the bench when Goodwin was prosecuted.