Local & State Headlines

Church arson case could resume soon

• The Last motion filed in a high-profile church arson case was entered in court last January, court documents show.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — A controversial arson investigation could move forward this week after a new prosecutor is appointed to lead the case, Dougherty’s chief assistant district attorney said.

The Rev. Joseph Howard III, 45, was charged in January after investigators said he was involved in the burning of the Trinity Metropolitan Baptist Church on Dec. 31, 2007. Two others, Vincent Darrell Jackson, 45, and Curtis Lee Jones, 41, were also implicated in the fire that investigators say caused more than $150,000 in damage to the facility.

Nothing has been filed in the case since Jan. 23.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Greg Edwards said Tuesday that the case has been plagued with delays but that he hopes to have a new prosecutor assigned this week so that it can move forward.

The first prosecutor assigned to the case has taken a job in another circuit and the ADA next assigned to the case had to withdraw because of pre-existing conflicts, Edwards said.

“We’re having a meeting this week and we hope to have that situation resolved and a new attorney assigned to that case,” Edwards said.

Howard was charged with first-degree arson after investigators said he had a role in planning the fire that investigators believe was set to rake in a large insurance settlement. Investigators say they believe he paid Jones and Jackson to set the blaze.

He’s been out on bond since his arrest, Dougherty County Jail officials said.

According to public information available on the Dougherty Court System Web page through the Superior Court Clerk’s Office, the last motion filed in the case was an Entry of Appearance filed Jan. 23, 2008.

Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Jon Oxendine condemned the acts, saying “anyone who would set fire to a house of worship didn’t deserve to be on the streets.”