By Ron Wilkins
Lafayette Journal & Courier, USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
LAFAYETTE – Thomas Moss along with suspected co-conspirators Blake Smith and Raylen Ferguson procedurally might have slammed on the proverbial brakes in their cases for allegedly plotting to kill Tippecanoe Superior Judge Steve Meyer.
Attorneys for Moss, Smith and Ferguson all filed a motion Monday asking Special Judge Lisa Swaim to pause their cases and to approve their appeal to the Indiana Appeals Court or the Indiana Supreme Court so a higher court can review Swaim’s decision to deny a special prosecutor, according to court records.
The reviews will add months to the trio’s cases, and Swaim has said in hearings that she prefers to wrap up these cases by the end of the year.
Moss, Ferguson, Smith and Nevaeh Bell all are charged with several counts of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, as well as several battery charges and sentence-enhancing charges. Bell has not filed a motion for an interlocutory appeal and has not filed for a special prosecutor, according to court records.
Prosecutors say the four conspired to kill Meyer on Jan. 18 at his south-side house in an attempt to delay Moss’ trial on 2024 charges of gun, intimidation and domestic battery charges. The trial on the 2024 case was supposed to begin Jan. 20.
The plot to kill Meyer supposedly was a failed gang hit, according to prosecutors.
“The issue Defendants intend to raise on interlocutory appeal is whether the Court erred and abused its discretion in denying Defendants’ Motion for Appointment of a Special Prosecutor where the record contains evidence of an actual conflict of interest,” the motion states.
If Swaim does not approve the interlocutory appeal, the attorneys for Moss, Smith and Ferguson plan to file an original appeal directly to the higher courts, according to court documents filed Monday.
Nothing in the court record on Monday indicated Swaim has approved or denied the motion for the interlocutory appeal. Swaim has denied Moss and Smith’s motion for a special prosecutor, and Ferguson is expected to file his motion for a special prosecutor.
The motion claims that Moss’ May 8 request for a special prosecutor shed light that a deputy prosecutor met with Meyer the weekend of the shooting for the judge’s signature on warrants, and Meyer shared an odd and recent experience of a food delivery man coming to his house. The delivery man was Ferguson, according to prosecutors who gathered that information from Meyer after the shooting.
However, Moss’ motion alleges a conflict of interest since that deputy prosecutor is not on the witness list.
The trio’s motion alleges that remedy for the current prosecutors’ decisions after trial is inadequate. The only remedy, according to the Moss, Ferguson and Smith’s motion, is to appoint a special prosecutor.
The motion for the court to approve the interlocutory appeal also asks that the proceedings against the three be paused until a review by a higher court. This includes any discussions with plea agreements with any of the co-defendants.
Meanwhile, Moss filed a motion on Monday asking to move his conspiracy trial to summer of 2027, noting it will take that long for the attorneys to be prepared for such a complicated trial.
However, the continuance motion for the most recent charges does not object to Moss’ trial on the 2024 charges to be tried this year. His current trial date for the 2024 case is in September.
Moss, Ferguson, Smith and Bell all are being housed isolation at separate jails, and they do not have access to communicate with other inmates, and they only are allowed phone calls to their attorneys.
Still, Moss managed to convince jail guards earlier this year that he was calling in his attorney, but prosecutors allege he was calling a Mindi Metzinger, a Lafayette woman. Prosecutors allege Moss planned to mail letters to Metzinger so she could then mail them to the accused co-conspirators. The letters, prosecutors said, contain instructions on how they should proceed in their criminal defense in their mutual cases.
Moss received additional charges for that, and Metzinger is charged with obstruction of justice and assisting a criminal. Her trial is pending and currently scheduled for December, according to court records.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: “Defendants in Lafayette judge’s shooting want a higher court’s review.”