The attorney for a defendant accused in the 2020 shooting death of an Atlanta 8-year-old wants to keep the jury from hearing about his client’s past crimes when he goes to trial.
Jerrion McKinney committed firearm-related offenses in Missouri years before he was accused of taking a loaded rifle to a gang-related blockade at which Secoriea Turner was shot. His lawyer, Michael S. Katz, appeared before the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday in an effort to suppress evidence of the prior crime.
Prosecutors from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office argued that the evidence is admissible under a provision of Georgia law which allows evidence of prior crime to be presented against a defendant charged under the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Supreme Court justices appeared to agree with prosecutors on that point. But they indicated that evidence of McKinney’s past crimes is likely to be suppressed under a different state law provision, unless prosecutors can show the previous offenses were gang-related.