Murder trial postponed until 2019

WEST CHESTER >> The trial of the West Goshen man accused of shooting his neighbor outside their homes, the tragic end to a longtime dispute between the two, will be postponed until next spring, a Chester County Common Pleas judge has ruled.

Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft, who will preside over the trial of Clayton Carter III, agreed with the attorneys in the case that it would not be feasible to try the case in December, as had originally been scheduled, because of review the prosecution needs to do on expert reports delivered recently by the defense.

Those reports will reportedly include one by psychologist Gerald Cooke on Carter’s mental health, which the prosecution could try to rebut with its own examination of Carter.

Defense attorney Joseph P. Green Jr. of West Chester has said that he has not determined whether to present evidence of Carter’s mental state at the time of the fatal shooting, but is reserving the right to do so.

Deputy District Attorney Thomas Ost-Prisco told Wheatcraft during a pre-trial hearing that he would need extra time to hire a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist, schedule an examination of Carter, and review it before proceeding to trial.

There are also reports from Green about the toxicology of the victim, G. Brooks Jennings, at the time he died, DNA evidence found at the scene, and the result of a scan of the victim’s cellphone that he must review.

He and Green both agreed that the approaching December trial date was unrealistic, and asked Wheatcraft to set a new date. She ordered both they prepare for the trial to start April 15, 2019, and said that she was blocking out 10 days for the case.

During the hearing, Wheatcraft also said she would allow the prosecution to present a videotaped statement that Carter gave to investigators from West Goshen police and the Chester County Detectives about the events surrounding Jennings’ death.

He has admitted shooting the 51-year-old outside their abutting properties in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, 2017, but contends he was acting in self-defense. He says Jennings, with whom he had long running, contentious arguments, including one hours before the shooting, tried to stab him.

The statement was one of two that investigators took from Carter in the hours after the shooting. During the first episode, a nervous and talkative Carter asked to speak to his attorney at the time, Terrence Marlowe of Downingtown, before giving a statement. Wheatcraft last week ruled that the prosecution could not use any of that taped interview at trial because Carter had invoked his Miranda rights.

But she said Ost-Prisco could show the jury the second interview, which occurred after Marlowe was called to the West Goshen station. He spoke with Carter about what happened, and then sat in on the interview with police as Carter waived his right to remain silent and told township Detectives David Maurer, Darren Sedlak, and county Detective John O’Donnell, what occurred.