Joe Clyde Daniels case: Joseph Daniels back in court as motions hearing resumes

CHARLOTTE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Joseph Daniels was back in a Dickson County courtroom Thursday, as a slew of motions are being heard just weeks before his murder trial is set to begin.

Daniels is charged in the death of his missing son, Joe Clyde, who disappeared from his Dickson County, Tennessee home on April 4, 2018. Although the boy's body has never been found, he is presumed dead.

Daniels initially confessed to killing the boy but later recanted that confession. His attorney, Jake Lockert, says he was coerced. Judge David Wolfe is expected to decide this week as to whether his confession will be allowed at trial. That didn't happen Thursday, though.

Instead, the defense argued that law enforcement acted with bias in the investigation, potentially missing out on a lead.

Thursday a woman spoke in court who said her daughter encountered a young boy during the search for Joe Clyde.

"She saw a little boy walking down the road muddy in pajamas and he was talking to her for a minute and then just kept walking," said the woman in court. Her daughter was about Joe Clyde's age at the time. It's been three years and she can't remember what happened in that interaction, according to the mother.

At the time, the police told the mother they would come search the area. She says they didn't.

The judge disagreed that law enforcement was biased in their investigation as they were already searching for Joe Clyde in the area at that time.

At a motions hearing in April, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to sever the cases of Joseph and Krystal Daniels into two trials. Joseph Daniels is set to stand trial first on June 1.