Seventeen people have been subpoenaed to testify today at a coroner's inquest being held to determine whether the shooting death of Winford S. Griffith March 15 in Cape Girardeau was justifiable or a homicide.

The 64-year-old Cape Girardeau man was shot by Cleo Johns in a morning confrontation at Ed's Bar on Good Hope Street. Griffith, who witnesses say also was armed with a handgun, died later at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Johns, also 64, and Griffith had been friends since the eighth grade.

The inquest will begin at 9 this morning at the Common Pleas Courthouse.

After hearing testimony, a six-person jury will decide whether Griffith's death was a homicide or felony or whether his killing was in self-defense.

"The purpose is for me to be able to determine the cause of death," Cape Girardeau County Coroner Mike Hurst said.

Shooting spree

Police say Griffith's death followed a morning rampage in which he forced his way into the residence of Deanna Keller, 50, in Fruitland, Mo., and fired shots as she drove his pickup truck away.

He then drove to the Star Vue Mobile Home Court on North Kingshighway where he shot Mary Boitnott in the head in her bedroom while her husband was in the living room watching television, police say. Griffith, who also lived in the mobile home park, then drove to Ed's Bar where the gunbattle with Johns ensued.

Decision not binding

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle is not bound by the coroner's jury's finding in deciding whether to charge Johns. In 1996, a coroner's jury ruled that the asphyxiation death of a 13-year-old patient at Cottonwood Treatment Center was involuntary manslaughter caused by the criminal negligence of three Cottonwood employees. Swingle did not file charges, saying he couldn't prove criminal negligence.

Swingle says a coroner's inquest serves a number of purposes: "To let truth of what happened come out publicly so the public sees nothing is being swept under rug, and also to put witnesses under oath where they can be prosecuted for perjury if they don't tell the truth."

The latter function can be useful in counties like Cape Girardeau that don't have a standing grand jury, Swingle said.

Subpoenaed witnesses are required to testify unless they state their testimony would incriminate them.

An inquest serves a third purpose, Swingle said. "It also gives the prosecutor a barometer of what the community thinks about the facts of a case and whether it was justified."

The coroner runs an inquest the same way a judge conducts a hearing, Hurst said.

Swingle will question those who have been subpoenaed. The list consists of witnesses to the shooting -- including Johns -- and to other events that occurred earlier in the day, in addition to law enforcement officers and experts with the Southeast Missouri Crime Lab.

The questions tend to be more open-ended than in a trial, Swingle said. "It's unlikely the questioning would be hostile unless I think the person is lying or hiding something."

Members of Griffith's family, who have challenged Johns' version of the shooting, have not been subpoenaed.

Hurst compared the testimony in an inquest to that sought in a preliminary trial. "We are talking about the actual steps that created the death of this person," he said.

The Griffith family members have been notified of the inquest, Hurst said.

The coroner's jury is picked by computer from the same pool used in court cases. Hurst said the inquest probably will take most of the day.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 182