A Charlottesville judge has ruled that George Huguely V’s family members cannot testify at any sentencing hearings if they sit in the courtroom during his first-degree murder trial.
The former University of Virginia lacrosse player from Chevy Chase is accused of killing Yeardley Love, his ex-girlfriend, in May 2010.
Huguely’s lawyers had tried to lift a ban on such testimony. If Huguely is convicted, family members would be expected to testify at his sentencing. But they cannot take the stand if they are in the courtroom during trial proceedings, Charlottesville Circuit Court Judge Edward Hogshire ruled.
“The family members are faced with a dilemma,” defense attorney Francis McQ. Lawrence said at a hearing, according to the Charlottesville Daily Progress.
The defense also proposed that family members be allowed to record video statements before the trial. Prosecutors opposed that request because they wouldn’t be able to cross-examine the witnesses, the Daily Progress reported.
Huguely’s trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 6.
