A preliminary hearing set to begin today for a Carter County man accused of opening fire on police officers and injury two people in December 2015 has been rescheduled.
General Sessions Court Judge Keith Bowers Jr. signed an order on Thursday rescheduling the hearing for Feb. 3. The order was also signed by Assistant District Attorney Mark Hill and Greg Norris, the attorney representing Kelly Lee Pitts. The order includes a handwritten note stating “all witnesses are available on this date.”
Pitts, 37, of 433 Dry Hollow Road, Elizabethton, faces seven counts of attempted first degree murder and seven counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. The charges against Pitts stem from an incident in December 2015 where he allegedly opened fire on officers responding to a report of an intoxicated man armed with a gun. Carter County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jenna Markland and Pitts’ girlfriend Brandy Hyder suffered gunshot wounds during the incident.
The case against Pitts was originally bound over to a Grand Jury in March 2016 and the Grand Jury then handed down the indictment against Pitts. However, when the case made its way to Criminal Court, Norris filed a motion seeking a new preliminary hearing. In the motion, Norris said he had received a copy of the audio recording of the previous hearing, which he described as “inaudible and unusable in its current state.”
On Dec. 28, Criminal Court Judge Stacy Street signed an order to remand the case back to General Sessions Court for a new preliminary hearing. That hearing is now scheduled for Feb. 3 in General Sessions Court.