Suspect in woman's disappearance asks for new trial in separate attempted murder case

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — James Hataway, who is suspected in the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio, appeared in court Friday to request a new trial in a separate attempted murder trial.
 
Hataway has been in prison since 2011 for trying to kill Rachel Clark.
 
Hataway claims his attorneys made mistakes. He maintains a jail-house informant's testimony should not have been allowed to be heard by a jury since he believes the informant was planted there by Ocoee police. He also says Clark, the woman he was convicted of trying to strangle to death, should have had her medical records show her blood alcohol level on the night of the incident.
 
"I felt like the state was throwing charges at me that weren't credible. I wanted to take it to trial. It was my word against hers," Hataway said.
 
Hataway also said his lawyers waived his right to a speedy trial. His attorneys said it was because they were not prepared.

"He still attacked her, he still banged her head on the ground and said, 'Don't make me kill you.' The things that he did, he shows that he was trying to kill that poor girl and he deserves everything he got," Liz Ocasio, Tracy Ocasio's mother, said.

He is serving life in prison for his attack on Clark, but he was not been convicted in the disappearance of Ocasio. He remains the only suspect in that case.
 
No decision has been made on whether Hataway will receive a new trial.

Cox Media Group