West Goshen 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 Common Pleas judge said Wednesday.

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 pretrial 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 cell phone that he must review.

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