Judge orders arrest after murder suspect runs late for trial
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CLINTON — A state district judge ordered a Jackson man’s arrest after the man failed to appear in court for the start of his murder trial on Tuesday.
East Feliciana Parish sheriff’s deputies took Leonard Moore Jr., 31, to the parish jail after he showed up 45 minutes late for his scheduled 9 a.m. second-degree murder trial in the 1996 slaying of Henry “Stuckey” Perry, 36.
By then, 20th Judicial District Judge George H. Ware Jr. had canceled the trial, and Moore’s attorney, Mark V. Marinoff, and most of the witnesses and spectators had left the courtroom.
While deputies were searching and handcuffing him, Moore blamed his lawyer for not telling him he was due in court Tuesday, but deputies replied that he had been given the trial date during a June appearance in court.
Moore, who had been free on bail, had waived his right to a jury trial, agreeing to let Ware hear the evidence and decide the verdict.
After about 20 minutes had passed, Marinoff told the judge he was sure that Moore’s absence was an “absolute oversight” and not a willful attempt to avoid prosecution.
He noted that Moore had appeared in court on other occasions and surrendered voluntarily when he learned police had a warrant for his arrest.
Clinton police said in 1996 that Perry and a passenger were approaching the Pretty Creek Apartment complex’s parking lot in Perry’s car when Perry flagged down a car coming out of the lot.
Perry was fatally shot in the abdomen when he got out of his car and walked toward the other vehicle, police said.
While Moore was arrested in the slaying in 1998, a grand jury never indicted him in the case.
Clinton police reopened the investigation in 2006, and a grand jury indicted Moore, Jimmy George, 32, of Jackson, and James Earl Jackson Jr., 33, of Clinton, on second-degree murder.
Ware threw out Moore’s indictment last year, ruling that too much time had passed since the slaying for Moore to present an adequate defense. A divided three-judge appellate panel overruled Ware in December.
Twentieth Judicial District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla said murder charges are pending against George and Jackson. Moore was being held without bail Tuesday.
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