Jeffrey Young’s Roanoke County trial delayed

6:05 p.m.

  Jeffrey Young’s attorney, Neil Horn, may be betting Young’s prior run-ins with police and trips to the hospital could save him from a life in prison sentence.

  Young is charged with first degree murder and hit and run in the death of former Roanoke attorney Tom Farrell.

  Farrell died on Springlawn Avenue in the Cave Spring community on January 28, 2008.

  He was out for an early morning jog.

  Horn asked a judge for an extra six weeks to prepare Young’s defense.

  The judge granted Horn’s request.

  Horn said he needed the extra time to research if Young’s past played any part in what Horn said was a doctor’s paranoid schizophrenic diagnosis.

  Horn said he wanted more time to see if a family history of similar sickness could help explain Young’s current mental state.

  He also intends to research Young’s medical history, including a car accident 10 years ago when Young lost an organ, to see if anything might’ve triggered Young’s mental problems.

  Roanoke County prosecutors admitted in court they would probably talk about Young’s Floyd County charges at the trial.

  In Floyd County, Young is charged with running down a grocery store clerk in a car, then beating her with a wooden club.

  It happened two days after Farrell’s death.

  Both sides will be on a conference in the morning to pick a firm trial date, which will probably come sometime in late May or early June.

  The judge said he would not allow any more delays.

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3:00 p.m.

From Scott Leamon, in the field
WSLS Reporter

The man charged in the hit and run death of Roanoke County attorney Tom Farrell will not go on trial next week as originally planned.

A judge delayed the start of Jeffrey Young’s trial until the end of May or beginning of June at the earliest, on Thursday.  Young’s lawyer asked the judge for additional time to prepare his defense.

As WSLS first reported back on April 6th, court documents filed by Young’s attorney, Neil Horn, show a state psychiatrist examined Young on March 30, 2008.  The psychiatrist claimed Young “was not sane” at the time he’s accused of hitting a Floyd County woman with his car, then beating her with a stick.  That alleged crime happened two days after the Farrell murder.

I’ll have more details from what happened in court on WSLS at 6:00 p.m.