Prosecutors want gun evidence at accused killer’s trial
The Pottstown man accused of the April 2019 gunshot slaying of another man “voluntarily abandoned” firearms, including the alleged murder weapon, when he fled from a vehicle he was operating at the time and evidence of the seized weapons should be admissible at his trial, prosecutors maintain.
“The firearms left behind by the defendant were voluntarily
abandoned and their seizure by police was lawful,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Samantha L. Thompson wrote in court papers, challenging accused killer Stephen Moore’s attempt to suppress the gun evidence.
Moore, through his lawyer Carrie L. Allman, claimed “a random bystander” entered a Jeep, which police alleged Moore crashed at the intersection of High and Wilson streets after fatally shooting 25-year-old Joshua Alexander Smith on April 21, 2019, and retrieved a Taurus semiautomatic handgun and two cellphones and subsequently handed them over to arriving police.
Following the crash, detectives alleged they also recovered a Ruger .38-caliber pistol, the alleged murder weapon, from the center console of the Jeep.
Allman suggested the Ruger was seized during a warrantless search without probable cause. Allman argued a crashed vehicle does not give rise to probable cause for a search of a vehicle, that the search was tainted by the presence of the bystander who entered the vehicle prior to police and that the retrieval of firearms from the Jeep was “ripe with problems and confusion.”
“The mere use by police and prosecutors of evidence gathered by a private individual does not transform the private individual’s actions into conduct by the government,” Thompson responded in court papers. “When the witness entered defendant’s Jeep he was not doing so on behalf of police. The witness acted totally on his own accord in retrieving the 9mm firearm and handing it over to police.”
In court papers, prosecutors said after Moore allegedly crashed the Jeep and fled, the witness approached the Jeep and opened the driver’s door.
“The witness noticed there was smoke coming from the Jeep and, in an attempt to disconnect the battery terminal to stop the smoke, he noticed a Taurus 9mm pistol sticking out from underneath the driver’s side seat,” Thompson wrote, adding the witness retrieved the firearm and two cellphones from the vehicle and then approached arriving police and handed the items to an officer.
“The witness had no contact with police officers prior to approaching and handing over the items he retrieved,” Thompson argued.
In addition to the items handed over by the witness, police recovered the Ruger .38-caliber pistol from the center console of the Jeep, according to court papers.
During an autopsy, a forensic pathologist recovered a fired bullet from Smith’s body and determined Smith died from gunshots to the head and neck, according to a criminal complaint. Ballistics tests determined the bullet recovered from Smith’s body was fired from the Ruger .38 caliber gun found in the Jeep, according to the arrest affidavit.
Judge Thomas C. Branca is expected to hold a pretrial hearing on the admissibility of the gun evidence later this year.
Branca previously set a tentative trial date for Oct. 5. However, that trial could be rescheduled 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.
The investigation revealed that Moore and Smith left Smith’s residence together earlier in the day in the Jeep, operated by Moore and owned by Moore’s wife.
The victim and Moore went together to the Home Depot store in Pottstown and were captured on surveillance video as Moore purchased a screwdriver just minutes before the shooting.
Surveillance video in the area of High and Wilson streets captured the Jeep striking a tree and a male running from the scene. The fleeing man matched the physical appearance of Moore as he was depicted in the Home Depot surveillance video, detectives alleged.
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.
In the criminal complaint, detectives alleged Moore has a previous conviction for aggravated manslaughter in Camden, N.J., for which he served time in prison, and as a result he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
“The firearms left behind by the defendant were voluntarily abandoned and their seizure by police was lawful.”