Moore appeals Coshocton murder conviction

COSHOCTON – A 25-year-old man serving a 15-year-to-life sentence in prison for murder and felonious assault is appealing the ruling amidst claims that he was denied a fair trial.

The appeal comes more than seven months after Vincent C. Moore's trial related to the 2013 stabbing death of an 18-year-old.

In a brief filed Tuesday, with the Fifth District Court of Appeals, Moore's attorney demands that the conviction be cleared and the case be sent back to the trial court.

The appeal alleges six errors made during the initial trial in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court, including inappropriate testimony, ineffective defense counsel, and various violations of due process. Assistant Ohio Public Defender Allen Vender also claims Moore should have been charged with a lesser offense, such as involuntary manslaughter.

Coshocton County Prosecutor Jason Given was out of the office Tuesday and unable to be reached for comment.

After a six-day trial in November, a jury of six men and six women found Moore guilty of murder, an unclassified felony, and second-degree felonious assault for the death of 18-year old Matthew Gadfield on April 7, 2013. On Nov. 18, Judge Robert Batchelor sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison for the murder charge, and eight years for count two, to be served concurrently.

Moore, who has been at the Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe since his sentencing, fatally stabbed Gadfield outside the Cedar Street Inn in 2013 after the pair had been fighting. He pleaded not guilty to both charges, saying he killed Gadfield in self-defense.

The pair had first fought at a nearby gym just days before the fatal confrontation. The prosecution accused Moore of harboring a grudge, and going after Gadfield with the knife when he saw the chance. But the defense maintained the Moore was frightened by Gadfield, who was highly-trained in mixed martial arts and boxing.

Much of the testimony during the trial centered around Moore's mental state after the initial fight. Was he determined to get back at Gadfield for giving him a swollen lip? Or was he prepared to let it go? Additionally, witnesses examined why Gadfield had gone to the bar that night, where he knew his age would prevent him from gaining admittance. Did he go to seek out Moore and finish what he started? Or was it just coincidence?

Arguing that Moore had become a target of a trained fighter, Vender claims that a lesser charge of involuntary, or even voluntary manslaughter would have been more fitting, as Gadfield's death was not intentional; rather, it was a result of either accident, or a moment of intense passion.

Vender's appeal also questions why several of the defense's objections were overruled in trial, including parts of Moore's recorded interview with Detective Garrison Bryant of the sheriff's office. Moore had confessed during the interview, which Vender claims contains hearsay.

Other assignments of error listed in the appeal also include:

•Inappropriate elements of Bryant's testimony, in which he gave "opinions without personal knowledge of the underlying facts or expert qualification," according to the appeal.

•The ineffective defense counsel, who failed to disclose certain witnesses, including experts and Gadfield's mother, in time to testify at the trial.

•The court's alleged refusal to provide Moore with funding for a psychologist and forensic investigator to testify as experts on the defense's behalf, even when the state had access to such experts.

Moore is also under indictment for tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. He is accused of writing a letter to a potential juror to influence the case, Given has said.

Although his murder trial was scheduled for Sept. 23, it was continued at the last minute to Nov. 12 once the letter was discovered, the Tribune has previously reported. He pleaded not guilty to the tampering with evidence charge, and an oral hearing is scheduled for July, court records show.

elagatta@gannett.com

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Twitter: @EricLagatta