Ex-spring breaker serving 33 years in prison for running down biker seeks to withdraw plea

A former spring breaker serving a 33-year prison term for fatally running down a biker after a fight near the Cruisin' Cafe in Daytona Beach is seeking to vacate his sentence, withdraw his plea and have another stand your ground hearing.

Christopher Moore, 26, was in court Monday seeking to withdraw his no-contest plea to charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident with death. Circuit Judge Leah Case in 2018 adjudicated Moore guilty and sentenced him to 33 years in prison.

Moore said during Monday's hearing before Circuit Judge Kathryn Weston that he wanted to withdraw his plea even though it would once again expose him to up to life in prison. He is seeking another stand your ground hearing.

Weston said Monday she would issue a ruling at a later date.

Moore is currently scheduled to be released from prison on July 19, 2047, according to the Department of Corrections website.

Moore said he was unaware of photos that show gouge marks in the road indicating the biker contacted Moore's van in the van's lane. Moore also said he was never shown discovery, the stack of evidence prosecutors provide to defense attorneys, during his case. He also said his attorneys should have called a witness who would have provided testimony helpful to his case.

The fatal incident was a collision between two groups who are Daytona Beach fixtures: bikers and breakers.

Moore was about a week shy of his 19th birthday when he and some friends from Georgia drove down to Daytona Beach for spring break. The group also included breakers in two other vehicles. They encountered two bikers on April 3, 2016, near the Cruisin' Cafe at the corner of Main Street and South Atlantic Avenue: Roger Martin Jr., 41, from Bunnell, and Peter Blais.

One of the spring breakers complimented the motorcycles and a response from one of the riders provoked the group and the situation escalated to a fight. While members of Moore's group participated in the fight, it appeared that Moore only tried to break up the fight, according to an order in 2018 denying Moore's stand your ground motion.

Everyone then drove off, but the fight resumed down the road, again with Blais and the breakers doing the fighting.

Martin apparently remained by his motorcycle and did not participate in the fight, documents state. But Martin did shift the van out of park, causing it to crash into a pole and a car. That angered Moore who kicked over Martin’s motorcycle.

The bikers and the breakers then left.

One of the passengers in the van, Christopher “CJ” Sauders, told police Moore said: “I’m about to get them. They (expletive) up the van. I’m going to get them. Ain’t no one gonna mess with this murder gang.”

Moore, though, maintained he was trying to get away from the bikers. Moore testified at his stand your ground hearing that he jerked the wheel of the van toward Martin to try to scare him to leave them alone. The van collided with Martin's motorcycle and a security video showed the van dragging the motorcycle, leaving a trail of sparks.

The men were on the mainland, just west of the Halifax River in the 100 block of Fairview Avenue.

Moore did not stop or call police but instead the group went to their hotel room and later returned to Georgia.

Moore's defense attorneys at the time, Kevin Pitts and Michael Morrison, reached a plea deal with prosecutors calling for Moore to face a minimum of about 22 years in prison and up to 40 years. He was sentenced to 33 years.

Moore is now represented by attorney Matthew McLain, who on Monday said photos shown by police show gouge marks on the road from the motorcycles. The gouge marks show the initial contact was in Moore's lane which counters the claim that Moore retaliated by driving at the motorcycle.

McLain said Moore would not have entered his no-contest plea had he known about the photos. He also would have wanted the photos introduced at the stand-your-ground hearing.

A police officer testified at the hearing Monday that the gouge marks indicated the initial contact with the bike was in Moore's lane. But under questioning by Assistant State Attorney Erica Kane, the officer also conceded that that depended on how the motorcycle fell on the road. The officer said it is also possible the van was in Martin's lane or at least straddling the lane.

McLain also argued that another passenger in the van, Travvon Rutledge, whose testimony was helpful to Moore, was not called to the stand by his defense attorneys.

But Moore's former attorney, Morrison, testified that Rutledge had made inconsistent statements and while his statements in a deposition were helpful, his original statements to police hurt Moore's case.

Morrison also said he did not recall Moore asking to view the discovery in the case but if he had, he would have allowed him to.

Morrison said he does not like providing discovery to clients in jail because their bunkmates may read the material and then may try to cut a deal from prosecutors by claiming that the defendant confessed. But Morrison said if the client wants the discovery anyway, he will provide it.

Morrison said he did not remember whether he considered arguing the crash was an accident. He said the incident struck him as a stand your ground case.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona spring break murder case back in court, killer seeks new hearing