LAFAYETTE, IN — Thomas Moss’s defense team decided a speedy trial on charges he conspired to murder Judge Steve Meyer on Jan. 18 would not be possible, so his new trial date is in September.
Andrew Baldwin, Moss’s defense attorney, said in a hearing Friday that while the trial of another person accused of being involved was ongoing this week, the Tippecanoe County prosecutor’s office notified him and fellow defense attorney Michael Cunningham that they’d received new discovery that would be “quite voluminous digital forensic evidence.”
“That kind of just, for us, tipped the scales in terms of just, there’s no way we can be properly representing him without having gone through that evidence,” Baldwin said. “Therefore, it just made sense for us to withdraw the speedy trial and seek a continuance of the trial.”
Tippecanoe County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Elyse Madigan said the discovery is, in fact, voluminous, after additional electronic devices were made accessible to collect evidence.
Special Judge Lisa Swaim granted the motion for a continuance and reset Moss’s trial, originally scheduled for May 6, to Sept. 9.
“I would probably err on blocking off two to three weeks, or two and a half weeks,” Madigan said during scheduling discussions. “I’m hoping it won’t be that long, but it’s hard to say.”
Moss’s other trial — which prosecutors say Moss was trying to avoid when he conspired to bribe an ex-wife and then kill her, Judge Steve Meyer and his wife, Kim — has been moved to July 27 and is expected to last through July 31.
A new hearing for the requested motions for change of venue and the appointment of a special prosecutor will be on May 8, pushed back from April 22, after Baldwin said it would likely be a “waste of time.”
“Part of me, Judge, says it would be, I don’t want to say a waste of time,” Baldwin said, “but from knowing what happened in the (Amanda) Milsap case, I kind of see what the writing on the wall might be on the venue issue.”
In Milsap’s case, which also was denied a requested a change of venue, Swaim said a jury was successfully selected, whereas most of the “difficulties” were found to be technical difficulties with sound in the rooms where other potential jurors were seated. Meanwhile, in Cass County, a secondary pool of jurors was scheduled for the following day if a jury could not be selected in Tippecanoe County.
Baldwin said he thought that was a creative way to solve the potential problem, noting it seemed to work.
Cunningham said he agreed, but their concerns were still valid, noting he didn’t want his or Baldwin’s words to be misconstrued as a waiver of their request.
“Mr. Moss’s case is a lot different, though, so I also have a little reserve there, too,” Cunningham said.
Madigan said she agreed that the system for Milsap’s case seemed to have worked, but the lack of depth the trial reached in connecting her charges with the case involving the shootings could pose a problem as it was a more high-profile incident.
After the May 8 hearing, a final pretrial conference is set for Aug. 7 in Tippecanoe County.
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: New evidence delays Thomas Moss judge murder plot trial
Reporting by Jillian Ellison, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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