Prosecutors fight accused killer’s request
Prosecutors say a cellphone video of defendant dancing with gun obtained months after gunshot slaying should be shown in trial .
A cellphone video depicting an accused Pottstown killer dancing while holding a gun, obtained months after the gunshot slaying of another man, was lawfully seized from the defendant’s wife and should be seen by a jury at trial, Montgomery County prosecutors maintain.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha L. Thompson, in court papers, argued Stephen Moore, accused of the April 21, 2019, fatal shooting of 25-year-old Joshua Alexander Smith, had no personal privacy interest in a phone belonging to his wife or a video he allegedly sent to her, and therefore the seizure and search of the phone was not a violation of his rights.
Thompson argued Moore’s wife testified before a county grand jury on Dec. 18, 2019, and afterward she agreed to provide county detectives with a phone “that contained a video of defendant dancing while holding a firearm.” Additionally, Thompson claimed, Moore’s wife signed a consent form authorizing detectives to search the phone and she assisted in identifying the video of Moore.
“Not only did she sign the form, but she helped identify the video of defendant in the phone. The video was sent by defendant to (his wife) during the time he was in hiding due to his outstanding warrant for the murder of Joshua Smith. The video of defendant dancing with the firearm was taken in the same bedroom in the apartment where he was arrested on Dec. 3, 2019,” Thompson wrote in court papers.
Moore was arrested on Dec. 3 inside a residence in the 800 block of North Charlotte Street in Pottstown by the Montgomery County SWAT Western Region.
Moore, through his lawyer Carrie L. Allman, argued the video is unduly prejudicial and he has asked a judge to exclude the video as prosecutorial evidence at his trial.
The gun depicted in the video was not the firearm used during the alleged homicide. Allman argued the video will lead a jury to conclude that Moore has a propensity for violence and firearm usage “which is an improper inference.” Allman argued Moore’s wife’s consent was not voluntary and that is another reason the video should be suppressed.
The video, Allman argued, has no evidentiary value in the case and will only serve to inflame the passions of a jury by leading them to believe Moore is cavalier about firearms and therefore likely to have used a firearm in connection with Smith’s death.
But Thompson maintained the video is “highly probative” in that it would provide jurors with the facts and circumstances surrounding his actions “during the time period when he was in hiding due to his outstanding warrant for homicide” and shows his identity and intent to possess a 9mm Taurus pistol that was seized at the time of his arrest.
Judge Thomas C. Branca will rule on the admissibility of the video during a pretrial hearing at a later date. Branca previously set a tentative trial date for Oct. 5. However, that date could change given the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which has postponed jury trials since mid-March.
Moore, 32, of the 400 block of Chestnut Street, faces charges of first- and third-degree murder and possession of a prohibited firearm in connection with the Easter Sunday 2019 fatal shooting that occurred in the 600 block of Industrial Highway.
The investigation began when Pottstown police responded to a reported shooting at the Industrial Highway address and found Smith suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Smith was transported to Pottstown Hospital Tower Health where he was pronounced dead.
As officers were responding to the homicide scene, a Pottstown police officer observed a silver 2015 Jeep traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Industrial Highway, away from the shooting scene, and began following the vehicle, which crashed at the intersection of High and Wilson streets, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective James McGowan and Pottstown Detective Sergeant Thomas Leahan.
As police approached the crash, the male driver exited the Jeep and fled the scene on foot, according to the arrest affidavit. Following the crash, detectives recovered a Ruger .38-caliber pistol from the center console of the Jeep and a Taurus 9mm pistol and two cellphones also were recovered at the scene.