Sentencing for 2 Murderers Postponed

SAN BERNARDINO — Sentencing for Cynthia Lynn Coffman and James Gregory Marlow, who received jury death verdicts for the murder of a young Redlands woman, has been postponed until Aug. 30 at the request of Coffman’s attorneys.

Coffman and Marlow are scheduled to be brought to Orange County from San Bernardino after sentencing to stand trial in the murder of a young Huntington Beach woman who was killed Nov. 12, 1986, just five days after the Redlands victim.

Coffman attorney Donald W. Jordan Jr. told San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Don Turner on Thursday that he has not been able to complete a motion for a new trial that he has been preparing.

Marlow’s attorneys said their client is ready for sentencing but agreed to the postponement.

Turner reminded the attorneys that they had assured him a month ago when he agreed to a similar postponement that they would be ready. But the judge agreed to the six-day continuance, warning them that it would be the last one he would tolerate.

Coffman, 26, and Marlow, 32, were convicted by a San Bernardino County jury in the murder of insurance clerk Corinna Novis, 20, who was kidnaped outside Redlands Mall and later strangled and dumped in a field near Fontana.

If Turner confirms the jury’s death verdict, which is usually a formality, Coffman would become the first woman sentenced to death in California since capital punishment was reinstated 12 years ago.