Prosecutors May Use Testimony of Dead Witness at Murder Trial, Judge Rules
Prosecutors may use the transcribed testimony of a dead witness in the upcoming murder conspiracy trial of a Tulsa man, a judge has ruled.
The dead man, Allen Shields, was a former co-defendant in the case who had testified against the four remaining defendants at a preliminary hearing last October as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors, according to Tulsa World. Shields, 34, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a standoff with police in April.
Lawyers for Mohammed Aziz, one of the four remaining defendants, had filed a motion challenging the use of the dead man’s transcribed testimony. But the transcript can be read to the jurors because the testimony of an “unavailable” witness can be used if the witness was previously cross-examined at a prior proceeding in the case. “I’m going to allow them to use the transcript,” District Judge Tom Gillert said at a hearing on the motion Wednesday.
Though the ruling technically applies only to Aziz’s case, prosecutors said they believe it would also apply to the cases of his three co-defendants.
Aziz, who owns a chain of convenience stores, is charged in the murder-for-hire killing of Neal Sweeney, who operated a business that sold fuel oil to Aziz’s stores.
