Motion Denied as Hall Heads to Trial

Editor’s Note: Court cases in the American legal system are a long process. Filing for various motions in a court case is common. An indictment is not a finding of guilt, it is just one part of the process. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

POMEROY, Ohio – The court has answered a request to suppress DNA evidence in the upcoming trial of Jaquan Hall. Hall is accused in the death of Kane Roush on April 4, 2021.

Hall is represented by George J. Cosenza. Cosenza filed a motion with the Meigs County Court of Common Pleas on April 19 to suppress DNA evidence due to an error in one of the affidavits used to obtain one of the warrants to gather a sample of Hall’s DNA. A motions hearing was held on April 28 in the courtroom in front of Judge Linda Warner. An affadavit is prepared by a member of law enforcement which states information that involved in an investigation which is then presented to a judge for a search warrant. Judge Warner heard the from Cosenza and Meigs County Prosecutor James Stanley. Cosenza argued that the error which listed ”rape” instead of ”murder” should make the search warrant for Hall’s DNA void. The information from the search warrant would then be suppressed and not presented during the upcoming trial to the jury. Prosecutor Stanley argued that it was an typographical error.

Judge Warner issued her response to the motion to suppress on May 2. She denied the motion to suppress. In her written response, ”The court finds that a review of the facts set for in the affidavit are clear. The crime being investigated is Murder or Aggravated Murder. The facts set forth in the affidavit were sufficient to establish probable cause to obtain the DNA of the Defendant in order to continue the investigation of the murder of Kane Roush. It is apparent that the term ”rape” used on one of the documents was a typographical error or scrivener’s error and the was nothing deliberate or recklessly false in the affidavit or warrant what would entitle the Defendant to a suppression of the warrant and any evidence obtained as a result of that search warrant. The Court specifically finds that no prejudice ensued from the typographical error on one of the DNA search warrant documents. Therefore, the motion is denied.”

Hall was indicted by a Meigs County Grand Jury on June 17, 2021 for Aggravated Murder, an unclassified felony, Murder, an unclassified felony, Complicity, an unclassified murder, and Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Murder, a felony of the first degree. The jury trial is scheduled for May 16.

Judge Warner noted that 180 summons were sent out April 1 for the potential jury pool.

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