Judge delays road rage murder trial
WEST CHESTER » The trial for a Delaware County man accused of the road-rage death of a teenage girl, set to begin next month, has been continued, those associated with the case said Thursday.
Chester County Common Pleas Court Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft, after a hearing on a motion by the prosecution to use a computer simulation of the events surrounding the death of Bianca Roberson, ruled that the scheduled trial date of May 21 would be postponed, and the case against defendant David Desper would not be held until some time in September.
No firm date was set, although Wheatcraft has criminal trial weeks scheduled for Sept. 10 and Sept. 24.
The added time will give Wheatcraft an opportunity to rule on the prosecution’s request
to use the computer simulation, and for other trial preparation.
In her pre-trial motion, Deputy District Attorney Michelle Frei, who is leading the prosecution team, asked Wheatcraft to allow her to use a computer-generated presentation in the prosecution’s opening statement, its case in chief, and her closing argument.
The simulation would include photos of the crime scene, the autopsy, and Roberson, as well as maps, diagrams, evidence charts and a timeline, as well as other elements. The presentation, she said, would “enhance the jury’s understanding and avoid confusion in the presentation of evidence. Even though the simulation would be computer-generated, the material included would be that evidence that the prosecution would enter during the normal course of a trial,” Frei stated.
“There is no legitimate difference between the demonstrative exhibits presented using a computer and demonstrative exhibits presented to the jury using traditional methods,” she wrote.
Defense attorney Daniel McGarrigle of Media, who is representing Desper, objected to the use of the presentation. On Thursday, he declined to discuss his reasons.
“I am not going to litigate the case in the press,” he told a reporter. He confirmed that the trial would be continued.
It has been about 10 months since Roberson died of a single gunshot wound to the head as she drove on the Route 100 spur in West Goshen the afternoon of June 28 after going shopping for school items as she prepared to go to college
at Jacksonville University after her graduation from Bayard Rustin High School. Authorities called their interaction a “cat-andmouse game.”
Desper has been charged with firing the shot that killed Roberson as they jockeyed for position in their cars as the highway narrowed from two lanes to one before entering Route 202.
Desper, 28, of Trainer, is charged with first- and third-degree murder and related charges. He is being held without bail in Chester County Prison, where he has been since his arrest a few days after the shooting after McGarrigle informed police that he was prepared to turn himself in.
The random crime — there is no suggestion that the two had any connection before their fateful encounter — shocked the region, if not the nation, and led to a multi-state manhunt for the driver of a red Chevrolet Silverado pickup seen fleeing the scene in a surveillance video. Roberson’s green Chevrolet Malibu went off the road, down an embankment, and slammed into a tree.
Police initially did not know that Roberson’s death was a homicide until an autopsy concluded that she had been shot.
Viewing a video surveillance camera located on the Route 100 spur, police identified a faded red pickup truck as being the vehicle most likely belonging to the assailant. An eyewitness, who told police he was driving in front of Roberson’s 2009 Chevrolet Malibu when he heard a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, saw the pickup racing away.
The incident sparked a massive manhunt that would involve the West Goshen police and Chester County Detectives, as well as countless other departments in the Tri-State area, as well as thousands of interested persons across the country.
According to West Goshen officials, the video surveillance was able to ascertain that the red pickup had sped south on Route 202, then exited onto Paoli Pike. The direction of travel from there led police to believe the truck was headed south on Route 352 toward Delaware County.
Police were able to use a fragment of the bullet that killed Roberson to identify the murder weapon as a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun.
When police went to Desper’s home in Trainer after being directed there by McGarrigle, they allegedly found a gun that matched the alleged murder weapon in a bedroom, and unused ammunition in a trash can outside the home, according to the affidavit filed by West Goshen Officer Jose Torres, a former state trooper, and Chester County Detective Benjamin Martin, who came to the DA’s Office from East Pikeland police.
Desper had purchased the gun legally in 2015, and had a permit to carry it – which means he could have it in his vehicle while he drove.
In interviews following their daughter’s death, Roberson’s parents described ow difficult life had become for them.
“We are feeling the pain of something senseless he did. Now, we have to live with it,” Rodney Roberson Sr. said.
“He just took her dreams. He didn’t have that right,” Michelle Roberson added.