Morton Trial Underway in Seneca

The trial of Tori Diana Morton got underway Tuesday afternoon in Seneca city court, following morning and early afternoon sessions that saw attorneys for the prosecution and defense arguing motions on the case before Seneca City Judge Danny Singleton.

 

Monday’s session was spent culling a jury pool of over 70 people to the two man, four woman jury hearing the case.

 

Morton is charged with simple possession of marijuana. Her case stems from her arrest on July 26, 2015 during a drug sting by Seneca Police Department officers that saw the shooting death of 19-year-old Zachary Hammond, in whose car Morton was a passenger.

 

Morton’s principal defense attorney, Keith Denny of Walhalla, asked Judge Singleton to suppress evidence obtained from a search of Hammond’s car, the motion to suppress, Denny argued, based on the contention that Seneca police officers had given false and misleading information in the affidavit used to obtain the warrant.

 

The attempted stop of the car, Denny said, had been without legal basis.

 

Bo Bowman, Seneca city attorney and prosecutor of the case, argued that traffic stops require only a reasonable suspicion. Judge Singleton denied Denny’s motion.

 

A second Denny motion attempted to exclude as hearsay a series of text messages sent to SCHP trooper Jerry Duncan, apparently in error, that resulted in the Seneca Police Department’s setting up the attempted drug buy that resulted in the incident leading to Hammond’s death and Morton’s arrest.

 

Acknowledging that the texts were sent from Hammond’s cell phone, Denny argued that it was impossible to know who sent the texts despite one apparently identifying the sender as “Tori.”  As the sender was unknown, Denny said, the texts should not stand as admissible stated declarations.

 

Judge Singleton denied the motion but acknowledged that Denny could reasonably enter objections into the trial record whenever the texts were mentioned in court.

 

Denny followed this track at any mention of the texts throughout the remainder of Tuesday’s proceedings, including nine words into Bowman’s opening statement.

Judge Singleton granted a Denny motion asking to put forth third party guilt as part of his defense of Morton.

 

In proceedings following the motion’s granting, Denny telegraphed his apparent defense strategy of painting any alleged drug deal as Hammond’s intent, any drugs found in the car as Hammond’s, and the notion that Morton was simply a passenger in the car.

 

Testimony by law enforcement officers Tuesday, leading with SCHP trooper  Jerry Duncan, set the circumstances that created the Seneca Police Department’s attempted sting.

Attorney Bowman indicated Tuesday that his presentation of prosecution witnesses will take all of Wednesday’s session, which begins at 9:00 am.

This story contributed by Ray Chandler.