Judge sets trial date in Ates case
Okaloosa County Circuit Judge William Stone has set a Jan. 10 trial date for the retrial of Jimmy Ates on a charge of murder for the shooting death of his wife.
Stone spoke with defense attorneys and the state’s lead prosecutor in the case during a telephone conference status hearing from the Okaloosa County courthouse in Crestview on Wednesday.
“It’s the third time we’ve set the trial; are we still looking at three weeks?” Stone asked the attorneys.
“I anticipate that the state will present its case and rest in one week,” replied James Colaw, Clay County Assistant State Attorney, who is the lead prosecutor in the case.
Ates will be retried for the June 2, 1991 shooting death of his wife, Norma Jean Ates, whose body was found in the family’s home in Baker by firefighters responding to a structure fire. She had been shot at least five times at close range, according to officials.
Investigators believe someone used candles to set a delayed-reaction fire that eventually engulfed the house.
The case remained open until 1997 when Ates, a former preacher and Baker schoolteacher, was charged in connection with her death. Ates was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of his wife in 1999.
His conviction was vacated in December 2008 and he was granted a new trial. The request for a new trial was based on expert ballistics evidence presented at Ates’ initial trial that was determined to be unreliable and inaccurate. Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis (CBLA) was a procedure in which scientists claimed to be able to link bullets to a particular batch or box on the basis of their chemical composition.
In 2005, the FBI discontinued its use of CBLA. Jimmy Ates is the first person in the nation to have a conviction overturned based on the FBI’s disavowal of Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis.
Attorneys Ann Finnell and Patrick McGuiness of Jacksonville will represent Ates during his retrial.
Judge Stone also set another status hearing that will take place via a telephone conference call on Oct. 6, stating that he wanted to stay in touch with the case to avoid any issues that would further delay the trial.
