Motions heard in John Poss homicide case
Jul. 7—Only a few issues remained to be settled during a motion hearing in the shooting death of Austin Shane Paul Lewis, 30, Neverfail Rd., that occurred in September 2020. John Michael Poss, 34, is charged with first-degree murder.
Assistant District Attorney Philip Hatch and defense attorney Randy York agreed on most pretrial issues, but a hearing was held June 21 to settle differences over which photos of the crime scene and autopsy would be used.
Criminal Court Judge Gary McKenzie also ruled the state would be required to inform York if witnesses the state planned to use were paid informants in the past.
The other issue involved which photos of the crime scene, the body of the slain man and autopsy photos would be permitted to be shown as evidence to the jury.
Dozens of photographs were taken during the investigation, with many being closeups of the gunshot wound or autopsy photos. Many are duplicates, York argued, and to show multiple photos depicting the same scene would be prejudicial to his client.
After reviewing all photos being challenged, introduction of the pictures the two sides could not agree on was decided by the judge.
To be included in evidence at trial is one video and up to dozens of photos. One photo will be allowed to show the position of the body in relation to the layout of Lewis' home.
McKenzie, however, ruled photos showing the area of where the body was discovered in proximity of the kitchen area could not be close-up photos.
The Poss trial is scheduled to being July 26.
Michael Moser may be reached at mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com
