Curtis murder trial continued to May 8 due to filing error

It was an anti-climax on the first day of a scheduled week-long murder trial in the 2014 shooting death of Front Royal cab driver Simon Funk Jr.  The First-Degree Murder trial of Clay Marshall Curtis was continued to May 8 due to a technical issue with pre-trial filings by the Commonwealth.

Photo of Clay Marshall Curtis circulated when he was first named a “person of interest” in the December 2014 murder of Simon Funk, Jr.

The technical issue was the failure to file a notice of DNA evidence to the defense 21 days in advance of trial as prescribed by law.  The notice was sent to the defense team of John Bell and David Hensley on April 3, just seven days prior to the scheduled April 10^th start of the trial in Warren County Circuit Court.

Simon Funk, Jr.

Judge Clifford “Clay” Athey denied a defense motion to bar the evidence, which Athey noted the Commonwealth had made the defense aware of in November, nearly five months ago.  Faced with that ruling, Athey adjourned the proceedings to allow the court-appointed defense team to discuss whether to proceed to trial on schedule or seek a continuance to facilitate the 21-day filing requirement.

During discussion with the Commonwealth and defense teams, both expressed concerns with witness schedules on the two dates the judge offered for a new trial date – April 24^th and May 8^th.  After that, due to the court’s schedule the next available date would not be until late November, Athey informed the attorneys.

After a 10-minute recess, Bell informed the court his client had decided to exercise his option to delay the trial.  After a subsequent 5-minute recess, the defense decided to work around witness-scheduling issues the week of May 8^th.  When witnesses were summoned to inform them of the delay; those scheduled for the trial’s first day filled over half the courtroom.

Curtis, now 63, is currently incarcerated on federal firearms and probation violations charges, which his attorneys told the court he had about seven months left to serve on.  Curtis was questioned on December 10, 2014, regarding discovery of the 42-year-old Funk’s body near a rural Shenandoah Farms neighborhood that morning.  He was initially jailed on the outstanding federal probation violation warrant prior to being charged with Funk’s murder.  Curtis was initially cited as a “person of interest” in the Funk case because there was evidence the off-duty cabbie had agreed to give “Frederick” – a known alias Curtis used – a ride into the county the day Funk was murdered.

Curtis will initially be tried on three charges – the First Degree Murder of off-duty Yellow Cab driver Simon Funk Jr.; the use of a firearm in the commission of attempted murder; and the Attempted Murder of a second person, Jeffrey Sissler.  Asked about the latter charge, Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Madden said it stemmed from a second incident the same day as Funk’s murder on December 9, 2014.

A second jury trial date of August 16^th was set on a related charge that has been separated from the primary set of charges.