Defense wants evidence tossed
A Dayton man accused of shooting two people within hours of each other and within feet of each other wants evidence in the case against him thrown out.
Christopher Smith, 29, is charged in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court with murder, two counts of felonious assault and two counts of having weapons under disability.
In a motion to suppress, attorneys for Smith said the court should not allow any identification testimony, including photo spread identification evidence and that seized by authorities during a police search at a home on Well Fleet Drive in Trotwood.
”There is a very serious possibility of irreparable misidentification ... Counsel anticipates that the evidence which will be developed at the evidentiary hearing in this matter will show that the law enforcement officials responsible for the so-called identification of the defendant used improper techniques to elicit the purported identification of the defendant...”
The attorney also argues that law enforcement officers searched the residence of the defendant without a lawfully issued search warrant or Smith’s permission, the motion says.
”The warrant used as the basis of the police search of residence involved were issued without probable cause, and the items recovered were beyond the scope of the warrant,” the motion says.
He is due in court on April 1 for a suppression hearing.
The criminal charges stem from two Dec. 5 shootings outside Rick’s Jazz Club and Save Food Super Market, according to court records.
According to court records, Smith allegedly shot Brandon Harris and William Earnest with a .40 caliber handgun around 3 a.m. in front of Rick’s Jazz Lab on Lakeview Avenue, killing Harris.
Then, around 10:30 that morning, Smith allegedly shot Clarence Brown with a .40 caliber handgun in front of the Save Food Super Market on Germantown Street, within 100 feet of the jazz club, according to court records.
Brown was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.