http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/102303/LOC_effinghamtrial.shtml

A death-penalty case shrouded in secrecy in recent weeks was resolved Wednesday when the man charged with the brutal slaying of a Guyton businessman made a plea deal that will keep him in prison for life.
Franklin Lamont Andrews pled guilty to malice murder for the Oct. 24, 2000 slaying of Guyton Pawn Shop owner Randall Shurling. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Gates Peed during a Wednesday afternoon hearing.

Members of the Shurling family said they were satisfied with the resolution of the case.

"We thought this was the best possible outcome,'' said Sondra Shurling, the victim's oldest daughter. "It is not something we are celebrating. Nothing will bring my daddy back. But after three years, it is finally over.''

The plea bargain came a day before the scheduled start of a jury trial in which prosecutors were to seek the death penalty.

The suspect's younger brother, Jamie Ishmael Andrews, also was charged in the robbery-homicide and accepted a negotiated plea earlier this year, saying he would testify against the suspect if he did not accept a plea of life without parole.

Jamie Andrews, 17 at the time, admitted to robbing the Guyton Pawn Shop, but fingered his brother, then 21, as the one who shot and bludgeoned Shurling. As part of the deal with prosecutors, Jamie Andrews was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole after serving 20 years.

Court officials were tight-lipped about the murder case in recent weeks, saying only that Judge Peed issued a "gag order'' restricting the release of information, including information about hearing schedules, which are public record.

Assistant District Attorney Keith McIntyre and Superior Court Clerk Elizabeth Hursey referred all questions to the judge's office in Statesboro. Peed did not return a reporter's telephone calls and his secretary referred questions to Peed's law clerk, Judith Oglesby.

After repeated calls, an assistant for Oglesby last week said the trial was expected to start Tuesday or Wednesday. Pressed for public records about the same time, an assistant for Hursey said the trial was set to begin Tuesday. But after it didn't, a clerk's assistant said the trial was due to start at 1 p.m. today.

Assistant clerk Leigh Hales returned a call about 4 p.m. Wednesday and announced the negotiated plea and sentencing that avoided today's trial.

Georgia Press Association lawyer David Hudson said court-issued "gag orders'' are usually aimed at restricting court officials' comments about the details in pending trials rather than keeping trial dates secret.

"A gag order prevents prosecutors and others from talking about the specifics of a particular case, but it should not be interpreted as restricting court dates and schedules,'' Hudson said. "It sounds like the court's order in this case was taken too far.''

The two brothers were arrested days after the pawn shop owner's body was found by his wife at the small business in the community of fewer than 1,000 residents.

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what we do together , is what we get punished together for ,

i aint never tried to save my own butt ,

we are family here!

wonder if they will ever have a relationship again ? well jail to jail mail unaccepted , i spose it dont matter ,