Moore Time: Jury Convicts Man For Failure To Appear

A Readyville man failed to convince a Cannon County Jury that he was not guilty despite taking the stand and testifying on his own behalf.

Joseph D. Moore appeared before a Jury today at the Cannon County Courthouse to face charges that he failed to appear in Circuit Court on March 13, 2009. The case has been pending since May of 2009 when Moore was indicted by the Grand Jury.

Assistant District Attorney General David Puckett called former Circuit Court Clerk Robert H. Davenport and Tammy Spooner, a certified court reporter, to the stand as witnesses.

Davenport and Spooner testified that they were both present on March 13, 2009, the day Moore failed to appear, and that Moore, in fact, Moore wasn't there.

Moore took the stand in his own defense and said personal issues kept him from court that day. Specifically, Moore said he was suicidal and depressed.

The Jury took no sympathy on Moore and quickly found him guilty as charged. Moore will appear in court later this summer before Circuit Court Judge Don Ash for sentencing. He is facing a prison sentence of 1 to 6 years.

No matter how long he is ordered to serve, Moore's sentence will run consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving for violation of probation.