<!--Rick Pfeiffer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Pfeiffer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com">rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
Prosecutors have renewed a request for a DNA sample from accused killer Darnell Carter.
At the same time, a complicated series of pretrial hearings has apparently derailed plans for jury selection in the case to begin on Nov. 30.
Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza said nothing about the trial date but scheduled a fourth day of hearings on the admissibility of eyewitness identifications and statements made by Carter for Dec. 22.
Carter’s defense team and prosecutors have wrangled over a wide range of items and whether or not they can be presented to a potential jury in the case.
On Thursday, Public Defenders Christopher Privateer and Alan Roscetti questioned two Falls police detectives over whether they improperly questioned Carter and whether they improperly showed a photo line-up to a witness in the case. More witnesses on those issues are expected to be called at the late December hearing date.
However, Sperrazza did rule that she would not force a potential prosecution witness to testify at the hearing.
Sperrazza set a hearing for the day before Thanksgiving on the prosecution request for a DNA sample from Carter. The judge had rejected an early request as “premature” because testing on evidence seized from Carter’s mother’s house had not been completed and had not shown whether DNA was present.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Seaman told Sperrazza testing has shown the presence of “unknown DNA” and asked again for a sample from Carter to compare it against.
Privateer objected to his client giving up a sample of his DNA, saying what was found on the evidence items “may not be relevant.”
Carter, 23, 416 12th St., is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree robbery, and one count each of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree criminal use of a firearm in the murder of Falls landlord Robert Biggs on March 20.
Police say Carter was the trigger man in what they believe was a robbery attempt gone bad outside of an apartment building Biggs owned in the 1500 block of Pierce Avenue. Detectives have said Carter had accomplices, but he remains the only person charged in the case so far.
Sources have told the Gazette as many as three other suspects could be charged and prosecutors have confirmed that their investigation of the murder is continuing.
