Area man awaiting trial asks to move

By BOB GIBBINS
Staff Writer

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS September 29, 2008 11:20 am

— A Sequoyah County man awaiting trial on first-degree manslaughter and possession of stolen vehicle charges is asking the court for permission to move to Arkansas.
Stephen Fabian, attorney for Jacob Wayne Goodwin, filed the request Friday in Cherokee County District Court.
Prosecutors allege Goodwin was driving while intoxicated when the vehicle he was driving collided with a vehicle driven by Jorge Espinoza Ayala. Espinoza Alaya died from injuries suffered in the crash.
The motion states Goodwin, 22, has completed in-patient treatment at Valley Hope and is getting married and wants to live in Van Buren, Ark., instead of Sallisaw.
He will be working for Wilson Brothers Construction in the Fort Smith, Ark., area with the concrete crew.
The request states the DA’s office has no objection to the request.
Chief District Judge Bruce Sewell has removed himself from the criminal case and a new judge has yet to be appointed.
Goodwin is also a defendant in a civil suit filed by Chris and Debra Vokoun, who were also injured in the crash.
He also has a DUI drugs and transporting open container of liquor case pending against him in Sequoyah County, which was filed after the Cherokee County manslaughter case.