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BREAKING: McCraney pleads not guilty to Beasley-Hawlett murders

OZARK, Ala. (WDHN) — Coley McCraney, the man accused of killing J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, was arraigned Thursday morning, and as expected, he entered a p...
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OZARK, Ala. (WDHN) — Coley McCraney, the man accused of killing J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, was arraigned Thursday morning, and as expected, he entered a plea of not guilty.

“We have an option to waive the formal reading of that indictment, and that’s what we did today,” McCraney’s attorney David Harrison said. “We reserve the right to file any appropriate motions in this case, which will be forthcoming.”

While entering the courthouse, McCraney uttered one brief statement when WDHN asked what he had to say: “I’m not guilty.”

Moving forward, Harrison and fellow attorney Andrew Scarborough will be gathering any evidence and working on their defense.

As for the gag order, Harrison said that there will not be one.

“Myself and Mr. Scarborough and Kirke Adams worked it out whereby the people of Dale County could find out what was going on with this case by allowing the media all the motions,” Harrison said.

Harrison said that they’re not surprised, and this is exactly what they wanted.

“The reason being is because we all want, including the state of Alabama, we want this case tried here, and we want a pure jury,” he said.

“(We’re) looking forward to our day in court,” he added.

Court records state that the jury trial will take place on Sept. 16, 2019, but that could be pushed back since Harrison said that this case could go to trial as soon as next spring.

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