Jury selection underway in Cleotha Abston’s rape case

Alex Coleman
·2 min read
3

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man accused of kidnapping and killing a Memphis school teacher is expected to go on trial this week for a separate rape case.

Cleotha Abston is charged with aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping and unlawful possession of a weapon in the case of Alicia Franklin.

Jury selection for Franklin’s case began on Monday.

WREG doesn’t typically identify rape victims, but Franklin wants her identity known.

Days after Abston was charged in the Eliza Fletcher case, he was indicted in the 2021 rape of Franklin.

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Despite Abston’s attorneys’ efforts to move the rape trial because of the pre-trial media coverage involving the Fletcher kidnapping and murder case, the judge refused.

“I firmly believe he (Abston) can be tried fairly by a jury in Shelby County,” Judge Lee Coffee said.

Memphis Police didn’t request the rape kit evidence be expedited, so it sat on the shelf for nearly nine months before the lab could get to it.

Franklin’s attorney, Gary Smith, says that the MPD failed to investigate his client’s rape and allowed Abston to remain free until he allegedly killed Fletcher.

“It has haunted her (Alicia Franklin) constantly,” Smith said. “If I could have pushed the police to do their job, it could have saved her life.”

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After Fletcher’s death, the Legislature passed a law requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue a quarterly report on sexual assault kit testing times.

Fletcher’s case will likely happen at the conclusion of Franklin’s case.

Abston’s attorneys are expected to file a “change of venue” motion in the Fletcher case as well.

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