Attorney: Co-defendants need separate trials in Lookout Valley triple homicide

Skyler Allen, left, and Derek Morse appear in court in 2014 for the triple slaying in Lookout Valley.
Skyler Allen, left, and Derek Morse appear in court in 2014 for the triple slaying in Lookout Valley.
photo The scene of a triple slaying near the 300 block of Kellys Ferry Place in Lookout Valley.
photo Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 5/28/14. Derek Morse, 19, middle and Skylar Allen, 22, right, sit in Judge Christie Mahn Sell's courtroom while having their case bound over to the grand jury both being charged in the April 9 triple murder in Lookout Valley.
photo Skyler Hudson Allen
photo Derek Morse

A 24-year-old man accused of murder in a 2014 Lookout Valley triple homicide wants to be tried separately from his co-defendant.

If he's unable to call Derek Morse, 22, to the witness stand in his upcoming trial, Skyler Allen won't receive a fair trial, according to a motion filed Tuesday in Hamilton County Criminal Court. Allen's attorney, Ben McGowan, cited "recently received information," and said Morse's testimony could help his client.

As it stands now, Allen and Morse are co-defendants who each face three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. Prosecutors say a third man, Jacob Alison, now 18, drove them to an RV lot at 4504 Kellys Ferry Road off Cummings Highway on April 9, 2014. There, Allen and Morse allegedly opened fire and killed Caleb Boozer, Jon Morris and John Lang over $20.

However, as co-defendants, Allen cannot call Morse to the stand under constitutional laws, the motion says. And because the proof against Allen is "circumstantial and far weaker," the motion argues, the 24-year-old must be separated from Morse if he doesn't want a jury to unfairly tie them together.

As Dan Ripper, the attorney representing Morse pointed out, lots of strategy goes into separating co-defendants. And prosecutors and defense attorneys alike can ask to "sever" defendants. Ripper used a example of when a prosecutor would ask for one:

"Let's just say Mr. Allen has given a statement that implicates Derek Morse," he said. "If they go to trial together, the state cannot play that statement. So I would never seek a continuance on that basis."

Ripper then turned back to McGowan's new argument: "His position is: He was not there. And there's available evidence about that and it would impact his case if [Allen] were forced to go to trial with my client."

McGowan said he couldn't discuss the "recently received evidence" until Oct. 24, when attorneys are scheduled to debate the motion before Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman at 1:30 p.m. Ripper also declined to go into specifics.

In an email, a spokeswoman for the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office said she wasn't sure what the information would be either.

The case was planned for trial Tuesday, McGowan said, but a scheduling conflict caused attorneys to cancel that date in July and push it to Jan. 17. Meanwhile, Allison, the 18-year-old who said he only drove Morse and Allen, is scheduled to appear in Steelman's courtroom on Jan. 24, records show.

A minor at the time, Allison was transferred from Juvenile Court in August 2014. He also faces three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.

Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.

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