KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A 12-member jury has begun deliberations to decide the fate of Chawn D. Summerall, a 31-year-old Kodiak man who is one of two men accused of killing Darrell Cavaness almost three years ago. Following closing arguments Thursday afternoon, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before going home for the evening.
The trial began on December 6th in Kodiak Superior Court.
On the night of January 22nd, 2008, 41-year-old Cavaness was found unconscious in an apartment on Natalia Way with severe head injuries. He died about a week later in an Anchorage hospital.
Summerall was indicted in June but charges were dismissed by the judge who ruled that the evidence presented to the grand jury had relied on hearsay.
The judge also said that grand jurors hadn’t been informed that Summerall had also been struck by the same piece of wood suspected to have been used as the murder weapon.
Also charged with second-degree murder in the case, but being tried
separately at a later date, is 31-year-old Joshua Erickson. That trial is scheduled for March.
