Boswell murder trial resumes with hopes to clear legal issue
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SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The second day of Megan Boswell’s murder trial will begin with answers to a dispute that sent the jury to their hotel early on Wednesday.

Court is set to resume at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and the jury is expected back at 9 a.m. News Channel 11 will continue to stream the trial on WJHL.com.

Megan Boswell faces 19 charges, including one count of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder, in the death of her infant daughter Evelyn Boswell’s death. Opening statements were heard Wednesday, and the first witness was called; however, a legal dispute ended court early.

Judge Jim Goodwin dismissed the jurors around 2:40 p.m. Wednesday after Boswell’s attorney requested that he be able to cross-examine Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent and witness Brian Fraley about a Feb. 2020 interview he said he had with the defendant. Fraley was the first witness called in the trial.

While Deputy District Attorney William Harper was examining Fraley on Wednesday, Fraley described the clothes Boswell had told authorities that her infant daughter had been wearing and said those perfectly matched what investigators found her in when her remains were recovered.

Fraley also told the court that Boswell told investigators that she knew Evelyn was dead during that interview. The court entered a recess shortly after that, and Boswell’s defense attorney, Gene Scott, told Goodwin he had a request prior to the jury’s return.

Scott asked to be able to cross examine Fraley about the interview since its introduction to the court, to which Harper argued that he had not mislead the witness and that Fraley had offered more information than what he was questioned about. Harper also contested saying no formal evidence or statement was introduced. Scott hoped to make the entire interview available to jurors.

“It’s my position that the jury should hear it. The state believes it’s hearsay,” Scott told News Channel 11 after Wednesday’s proceedings. “The judge will make that decision, and we’ll move on.”

Scott tied the request back to one of the first things the state did on Wednesday when they moved to dismiss Count 18 against Boswell, one of her numerous False Report charges.

The move frustrated Goodwin, who said the matter should have been addressed in pre-trial hearings. Goodwin decided that in order to make a fair ruling and ensure there were no issues when it came time for appeals, he needed to watch the entire 2-hour interview and consider the law.

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