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Woman charged with Linda Collins’ murder granted access to in-person meets with lawyers; barred from doctor visit

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A woman accused of murdering a former Arkansas state senator will be able to meet with her attorneys in person but she won’t be allowed to visit a doctor.

Those were just some of the motions a judge approved and denied during a pre-trial hearing Friday at the Randolph County Courthouse in the Rebecca “Becky” O’Donnell murder trial, according to a report from Mountain Home outlet, KTLO.

O’Donnell is accused of killing former State Senator Linda Collins of Pocahontas last June.

Her attorneys had filed a series of motions, including prohibiting photographic evidence of the crime scene and the autopsy, as well as asking that the charge of capital murder be dismissed and the death penalty removed, claiming it was “cruel and unusual punishment.”

During Friday’s proceedings, the judge granted O’Donnell access to her counsel which her lawyers had claimed they had been unable to do in the last three months since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The judge also granted O’Donnell’s request to appear in all cases before the jury in civilian clothes and with no restraints on.

However, Judge Fogleman denied her request to remove the death penalty from the table due to a precedent set by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

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