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But the DNA, fingerprints, evidence from cell phones and telephone records defense attorneys want thrown out from the case set for trail May 7 was obtained because “probable cause existed for the issuance of these warrant(s) and the search warrants were properly issued,” Montgomery County court documents show.
Bowers was shot in the head shortly before 9 p.m. Sept. 4, 2016 as he attempted to drive away from a confrontation on Willowdale Avenue after leaving AlterFest, authorities have testified.
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He died two days later - just hours after Gregory and two other teens were initially charged in juvenile court – in what was ruled Kettering’s first gun-related homicide since 2007. The two other juveniles said they were with Gregory that night on Willowdale and testified last year he was the shooter.
Gregory’s attorneys in October 2017 filed documents to the suppress evidence. Common Pleas Court Judge Dennis Langer in December set a series of deadlines for motions to be filed from both sides on or before March 6.
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Prosecutors filed documents Feb. 23. But court records indicate no filings from defense attorneys since the judge’s December decision.
In an Oct. 13 motion to suppress evidence, Gregory’s attorneys contend that after the Willowdale shooting “no warrant or consent was obtained to search the defendant’s person or residence, rather the police officer performed an illegal search….”
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Additionally, that document claims, police officers’ seized cell phones and phone records involving Gregory and his family, then obtained warrants that were “insufficient, lacked probable cause, and were otherwise unconstitutional.”
Yet prosecutors contend Gregory’s father consented to have the home searched. And statements from two other juvenile teens identified Gregory as the shooter, providing authorities with probable cause to collect other evidence, records show.
Regarding cell phones and records, “the court’s issuance of these warrants was more than sufficiently supported by probable cause,” according to court documents.
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“This was a homicide involving multiple people in the same vehicle,” the documents state. ”That these people would potentially be communicating both before and after the homicide is highly likely, particularly when the individuals know the police are on to them.”
Prosecutors added that “law enforcement provided substantial probable cause for the collection of the defendant’s DNA and fingerprints.”
When Langer will make a ruling is not clear.
Gregory has been in custody since hours after the shooting. He was indicted by a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court grand jury in August on two counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon and two related charges, court records show.
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