After calling witnesses for three days, prosecutors rested their case this morning in the murder trial of Patrick Carmody.
Carmody, 47, is one of three men linked to the 2010 slaying of 21-year-old Chance LeCroy. Authorities say Carmody, Billy Bob Partin, and Ronald Pittman drove over to 1211 Johnston Terrace in Hixson with the intention of stealing LeCroy's money and marijuana and ended up fatally shooting him instead.
Carmody's attorney, Lee Ortwein, has worked to discredit the state's numerous witnesses, including Pittman, who testified Wednesday in the hopes of receiving a plea agreement.
Today, after the state rested its case around 10:30 a.m., Ortwein filed for a motion of acquittal, which Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman rejected.
Ortwein said the state's witnesses may have been involved in the robbery. He asked Steelman to include two men, Eddie Holloway and Manuel Alcantara, as accomplices in the crime.
Steelman said he couldn't issue specific jury instructions yet, but reasoned that several witnesses provided a cohesive story:
Authorities located a .45-caliber magazine on the scene, Pittman testified that Carmody carried a .45-caliber weapon on Sept. 9, Alcantara said Carmody owned a weapon in the months before the robbery that was slightly longer than his .38-caliber, and the injuries that LeCroy suffered matched a description that Pittman gave of the attack.
Furthermore, Holloway placed Pittman, Carmody and Partin together in a pickup before the robbery, Pittman said Carmody burned his clothes afterward, and investigators found a fire pit nearly two years later on the Harbor Lights Yacht Club property.
Since the defense is given a chance to rebut the state's evidence, Ortwein said he plans to call another witness.
Carmody, he said, will not testify.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more updates.