Hearings delayed in Corey Jones shooting
Lawyers for former police officer Nouman Raja were given permission Tuesday to ask the prosecution’s investigator to clarify which of six shots from the cop’s gun wounded and killed stranded motorist Corey Jones.
Allowing time for this inquiry prompted the judge to order an emergency delay of critical hearings in the case from this week until May 7-8.
The hearings concern Raja’s bid to have his charges in Jones’ Oct. 18, 2015, death tossed over a “stand your ground” selfdefense claim. During the encounter with Raja along an Interstate 95 off-ramp in Palm Beach Gardens, the 31-year-old Jones was shot three times — in both arms and the fatal wound in the chest.
On Monday, prosecutors alerted the defense team that their investigator would be immediately available to clarify his responses from a Dec. 27 interview when he said he had no information about the order of the shots that hit Jones.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Adrienne Ellis said Deputy Chief Investigator Mark Anderson could answer more questions under oath on Tuesday, to avoid any delay in the hearings.
But Raja’s defense team told Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer that it would be impossible to meet with Anderson and then be ready 24 hours later for what is viewed as a mini-trial without a jury.
The lawyers said they need time to relay Anderson’s latest information to their own experts, who were already set to fly in from around the country to testify at the hearings. They also said the State Attorney’s Office should be hit with financial sanctions because this last-minute switch will be costly for the defense.
The judge only agreed Tuesday to give Raja’s lawyers the extra time they need.
This means that plans for a trial scheduled in July now appear unrealistic, further trying the patience of the Jones family.
The judge’s ruling after the May hearings will be appealed, and it will take months for the appellate court to rule on whether Raja will stand trial.
The “stand your ground law,” first enacted in 2005, says someone does not have to retreat and can legally use deadly force if the person reasonably believes doing so is necessary “to prevent imminent death.”
Raja, 40, faces charges of manslaughter by culpable negligence while armed, and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. A grand jury found that his “use of force” was unjustified.
Since his June 1, 2016 arrest, he’s been on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor — permitted to run some errands and work for a Boynton Beach firm that supplies gear to law enforcement agencies — under a $250,000 bond.
At a March 16 hearing, prosecutor Brian Fernandes said he did not know which shot was the fatal one, but that had no bearing on pressing forward with both charges.
On Tuesday, Ellis said the kill shot came in the second volley of three shots.