Y - The man accused in a high-profile case is set for trial Monday morning. Justin Hammer is charged with the 2012 murder of Brandon Duran
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This case is expected to last up to three weeks. Those following the case, think it could get interesting.
"I think everybody involved is taking steps to make sure it doesn't become a circus-type atmosphere," Shannon Kile
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Kile has been following every development in this case. He understands there will be extra security at the Garvin County courthouse for this trial.
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Hammer is charged with first-degree murder, because prosecutors think they have enough evidence to prove Hammer planned Duran's death.
Investigators say Hammer shot Duran in the face with a shotgun. Afterwards, Hammer is accused of cutting up Duran's body with a saw, then putting the parts in a dog cage and buckets weighed down with cement. OSBI agents found the body parts in a pond near Hammer's house on August 9, 2012. He was killed two days earlier,
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In a preliminary hearing a friend of Hammer's testified he called the cops on his friend after Hammer showed him the body and asked for help getting rid of it. Prosecutors showed Hammer bought all of the materials used to dispose of the body, the day before Duran's murder.
"Jury selection will be very difficult. Garvin County is a relatively small county. The defendant and his family are very well known,"
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"It's important for the defense team to talk to the jurors and make sure that they come in to the trial with an open mind," defense attorney Richard Morrissette
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Morrissette said it will only take one juror having doubts for Hammer to be found not-guilty.
"They (the defense) don't have to prove anything. Even though it appears in this case the evidence is overwhelming, just like playing a baseball game, you don't know the end result until you do it,"
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Hammer has pleaded not guilty. He says he shot Duran in self-defense. Hammer says he shot at Duran, because Duran came busting through his back door.
Hammer was dating Duran's ex-wife. In the preliminary hearing, friends testified Hammer had it out for Duran because she said he would beat her. Duran and his ex-wife had also been in a custody battle. He was ultimately given sole custody of their child.
"The family from California, Brandon Duran's family, they have a terrible view of Oklahoma at this point,"
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"Sadly enough there's a five-year-old boy at stake here."
The boy had been living with his grandparents in California up until last week. DHS had Duran's mother return to the boy to Oklahoma while this case continues, but whether he will end up in his mother's custody is unclear.
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"There's plenty of conjecture as to whether or not everybody guilty or that's involved is Brandon Duran's death is currently being investigated or in custody," he said. "There is damaging reports from the Medical Examiner's Office that shows he was shot with two different firearms. But so far there is only one man who is claiming to have shot him and that's the defendant."
Kile said members of both families want others to face trial in this murder too. Kile said prosecutors may be waiting on testimony in Hammer's trial to charge others.