5-25-10 —     Formal sentencing for Hope White has been delayed until August 17, after

Circuit Judge Vernon Miniard, Jr. agreed to allow DNA testing of blood found

under the fingernails of the victim, Julie Hicks Burchett. White was

convicted of murder in Burchett's death during a lengthy trial in Wayne

Circuit Court last month.

     The jury recommended a 30-year sentence, and that was what many people

expected to hear Monday when White appeared in court again for formal

sentencing. But instead, Miniard granted the request made by White's

attorneys‹Jim Cox and Teresa Whitaker‹for the DNA testing.

    White's attorneys are also questioning the testimony of three men who

said they were with Burchett the night she was killed. Their question is if

the blood found under the victim's fingernails belongs to a man or a woman.

    Miniard ordered that DNA testing be completed within 90 days and set the

next court date in the case for August 17.

    White was arrested in June 2009, nearly a year after Burchett's body was

found in her vehicle parked at the old pallet mill on Beech Valley Road. The

victim had been stabbed numerous times and her throat had been cut,

according to testimony from the trial.