GALLATIN, Tenn. (Scripps News Nashville) — A hearing continued Thursday in the high-profile Lindsey Lowe murder case.
Nine years after she was convicted of killing her newborn twins, Lowe is back in Sumner County asking for a new trial.
She and her new attorney argued that Lowe had poor legal representation at her first trial and that at least one juror was biased against her.
During Thursday’s hearing — in an unusual move — Lowe took the stand herself to testify about the case against her and what happened at trial. It was the first time the public has heard from her since her conviction eleven years ago, in 2013.
Though Lowe has already served nine years of her 56-year sentence, she is asking for a new trial now. She said she remembers very little of the first one and that she was never able to help in her own defense.
“Just like I didn’t have a voice… like a child… everyone talking about me,” Lowe said of the experience.
Questions were raised about her competency at Thursday’s hearing. She talked about the trial being a blur. She testified that she did not feel like she was a decision-maker in her own defense and that she didn’t believe she was in her right mind.
Now, her lawyer also says a “stealth juror” — a juror with a bias against Lowe — lied under oath to get on the jury. That alone could lead to a new trial.
Lindsey Lowe appears in Sumner County court Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, in Gallatin, Tenn. (WTVF)
Juror 17 answered a questionnaire taken under oath that asked if she had formed an opinion about Lindsey Lowe.
She’d said yes, that she believed Lowe had lied and killed her two newborns. Later, the court record shows, Juror 17 was questioned again under oath by the D.A. during jury selection at the courthouse. She was again asked if she had an opinion on whether Loew was guilty or not guilty. This time the answer was no.
The juror was not excused, and Lowe’s father, Mark, said he remembered the woman’s reaction when she learned she’d made the jury.
“She goes, ‘yes!’ and looks around with her eyes to see if anyone saw her,” Mark said of the juror.
“It was disappointing when I found out because she had already presumed that I was guilty before the trial even began,” Lowe said.
So, there are two issues to decide if Lowe gets a new trial. One: did she have poor legal representation? And two: did a juror lie under oath during jury selection?
If the judge doesn’t grant a new trial, Lindsey Lowe’s request will automatically go before an appeals court.
This story was originally published Oct. 13 by WTVF in Nashville, an E.W. Scripps Company.
