Trial reset for last defendant in Washington County beating death

Trial was reset Monday for the last remaining defendant in the murder of Ronnie Lee Bradley.

James Patton, 35, is charged with being an accomplice to capital murder and kidnapping. Prosecutors have waived the death penalty in Patton’s case.

Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey reset the case Monday to April 1, at the request of the defense.

Bradley, 48, was severely beaten and strangled. His body was found dumped Dec. 27, 2012, in a driveway in rural southwest Washington County.

The beating left Bradley with more than 100 nonfatal cuts, scrapes and bruises to his head, face, neck, chest, back, arms and legs. The state medical examiner estimated the injuries came from at least 50 blows. Bradley died from bleeding around the brain from blows to the head and damage to his larynx from being strangled with a seatbelt.

Two others have pleaded guilty to their roles in Bradley’s death and a third was convicted by a jury.

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