ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
An Orange County judge on Monday ruled that prosecutors can use video evidence gathered at a crime scene following a deadly shooting. Judge Jennifer Davis said video surveillance can be used, despite a mistake on a search warrant.
Timothy Davis Sr., an ex-cop with the Orlando Police Department, is accused of fatally shooting his 22-year-old son. Defense Attorney Michael LaFay tried to make sure jurors would not see the video which appears to show Davis Sr. firing a handgun on the day police said he shot son Timothy Davis Jr. to death. Davis Jr. was shot in the chest in the garage of their Apopka home.
LaFay explained what he was trying to accomplish at the court hearing. "Any time the state is deprived of any of its evidence it would likely do significant harm to their case."
LaFay argued the search warrant police used to search Davis' home after the shooting mistakenly authorized a search for narcotics, so it should have been thrown out. Judge Davis ruled the warrant contained a mistake but also described the other items police were looking for. They included a videotape and a bullet cartridge found in the garage. We have seen clips of the surveillance video on the news, but we do not know what the rest of the video might show at Davis' trial.
Neither the defense nor prosecutors would talk about what else might be revealed by the surveillance tape at the trial.
Judge Davis will hear another motion from the defense at an upcoming hearing. It's a motion to throw out Davis' statements to police. Detectives say he admitted to shooting his son, but told them he did not mean to kill him.
