Chastain MontgomeryMEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A federal judge is expressing frustration at the slow pace leading to the trial of a former corrections officer charged with fatally shooting two Henning postal workers during a robbery.
Chief Judge Jon Phipps McCalla bristled when a defense attorney for Chastain Montgomery said a mental evaluation of his client was not ready. McCalla expected the report to be completed by Thursday's hearing.
McCalla noted that the shooting of postal workers Paula Robinson and Judy Spray happened in October 2010. He said the case should be moving forward more quickly in the interest of justice.
The 48-year-old Montgomery has pleaded not guilty to charges that he and his 18-year-old son killed the postal workers after robbing the small-town post office of just $63.
Prosecutors said the shootings were the beginning of a crime spree that included two bank robberies. Police killed Chastain Montgomery Jr. in a shootout in Mason in February 2011 after officers stopped him driving a stolen truck while the father and son were allegedly preparing to rob another bank.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
