Circuit Judge Jamus Redd will take at least the next month to consider a motion of evidential suppression, one filed by the defense team of Trigg County man Jonathan McCoy.
He’s charged with the 2020 murder of Will Jackson Road resident Thelma Ileen Barnett, and the subsequent arson of her home, and an evidentiary hearing was held in Trigg County Circuit Wednesday morning — concerning he and alleged accomplice Keisha Stewart’s detainment following a September 2020 traffic stop on Blue Springs Road.
Wesley Boyarski, Christy Hiance and Rick Lawniczak argued that the Trigg County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Gary Hicks didn’t have any reason to pull him over that fall evening. He wasn’t speeding or committing some other traffic offense, his Ford SUV was legally obtained in Princeton, and its temporary tag was properly hand-written — with one small change — by U-Ride Inc. General Manager Christie Reynolds.
Reynolds further testified that the McCoy family had long been a customer for them, and that all temporary tags were placed appropriately on vehicles, strictly filed with the Motor Vehicle Commission, and not with clerk’s offices in the Commonwealth.
This means McCoy’s vehicle and plates, at the time of the traffic stop, wouldn’t be searchable in a police computer.
Boyarski also pointed out to Hicks that his original report listed four charges — among them possession of drug paraphernalia, tampering with physical evidence and false statement of receiving benefits — but not altered license plate.
Hicks, meanwhile, testified that on this particular evening, he’d been given a “BOLO” — or “be on the lookout” — for McCoy and this vehicle, as McCoy was wanted for questioning regarding Barnett, and for outstanding warrants in Lyon County.
When he saw McCoy’s vehicle, he also noticed what he believed to be an altered and inappropriate tag, and administered the stop. It’s here, Hicks said, that Stewart was discovered as a passenger, and a methamphetamine pipe bulged from her pants. An EBT card, not belonging to McCoy, was found in his wallet.
Hicks also confirmed that between his report and his grand jury testimony, he did misremember where McCoy’s tag was located on the car, and it was determined to be in an appropriate location.
In rebuttal, Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins said that “regardless of who altered the plate,” there was still probable cause for Hicks to pull over McCoy that evening.
Furthermore, Ovey-Wiggins argued that McCoy’s outstanding warrants, and the fact that he was a person of interest, renders any altered plates moot.
Ovey-Wiggins has also filed a motion for the unsealing of a 1994 Marshall County pre-sentence investigation of McCoy, one in which he was charged with using an electrical cord to tie up a victim. She believes there are similarities between that case and the murder of Barnett, who was also tied up with some type of electrical cord before her death.
McCoy’s defense is also seeking a Barroso hearing for Allison Hunter, another person of interest in this trial. This is a legal proceeding in Kentucky that determines whether a defendant’s right to compulsory process must prevail over the witness’s psychotherapist-patient privilege. Hunter was originally on the Wednesday docket, but did not appear.
The next pre-trial conference for McCoy, along with Hunter and Stewart, was set for 9 AM, February 9.
These cases, which are joined, are set for a July trial. McCoy remains incarcerated in Christian County Jail on $2 million bond.
FULL HEARING:
