A former Raleigh County pharmacist accused of murdering her husband will be in court Wednesday morning for a pretrial hearing.
Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said arrangements have been made to transport Natalie Cochran from the Federal Correctional Institute-Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, W.Va., to her hearing.
The hearing will take place at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Circuit Court Judge Robert Burnside’s courtroom.
Cochran was charged in November 2021 with first-degree murder for the death of her husband, 38-year-old Michael Cochran, who died in February 2019.
Hatfield said Cochran will be picked up from the federal prison early Wednesday morning by two troopers, one male and one female, with the West Virginia State Police. They will then drive her to the Raleigh County Courthouse, which is a three-hour drive.
She will be transported back to federal prison by the state troopers at the conclusion of the hearing.
“I’ve had to move a lot of things to get her in person,” Hatfield said.
Cochran has previously appeared in court remotely from the federal institution, but Hatfield said that’s no longer possible as the systems used by the Raleigh County courts and the federal courts are no longer compatible.
He added that it is everyone’s preference that Cochran be able to appear in person for hearings.
“(Cochran) originally requested that all pretrial hearings be done on video. That was because of Covid protocols — Once you leave and come back in, you had to remain in isolation for 14 days,” Hatfield said. “Now since there is none of that, she doesn’t mind appearing in person … Plus, she can help make decisions with her counsel in person. I’ve always preferred defendants to be there anyway.”
For Wednesday’s pretrial hearing, Hatfield said he intends to speak on his motion for a continuance. He added that a motion to dismiss, filed by Cochran’s defense attorneys, will also be argued.
Hatfield previously filed a continuance in December, which was granted by Burnside, and pushed Cochran’s trial date from Dec. 12 to May 1.
At the time, Hatfield cited the vast amount of discovery involved in the case as the reason behind the request.
In a previous motion to dismiss filed by Cochran’s defense attorneys on Nov. 18, it was stated that Hatfield’s office had failed to provide a number of documents, which “prevented the defendant from effectively defending her case against the capital charge filed against her by the state of West Virginia.”
Cochran is serving an 11-year sentence in the Federal Correctional Institute-Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, W.Va., for federal charges related to the operation of a $2.5 million Ponzi scheme.