Opinion ID: 1890083
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Shawn Moore's Testimony

Text: Shawn Moore was appointed in February 1997 as Lopez's second attorney in this case. According to his testimony at the § 23-110 hearing, Moore interviewed Nelson Reyes for approximately fifty minutes in March 1997. Based on his notes and recollections of that interview, Moore testified that Reyes had told him that he had been in the bathroom at the Tracks nightclub when the altercation occurred. Reyes told Moore that he left the club soon after and as he was driving away, he saw Lopez drive around him, followed by another vehicle that seemed to be chasing Lopez's car. Reyes told him that both cars stopped at a stop sign, Lopez got out of his car, and came within twenty feet of the passenger side of the vehicle that had been chasing him. At that point, Lopez opened fire, then got back inside his car and drove away. Although Moore could not recall whether he had specifically asked Reyes if he saw anyone getting out of the other vehicle, he testified that Reyes had never told him that he saw anyone getting out of that vehicle. After interviewing Reyes, Moore concluded that he didn't think Mr. Reyes was helpful in the nature of self-defense, with the exception of corroborating the fact that there had been a chase. Moore testified that he had told Lopez he didn't think [Reyes] was going to help us a whole lot. Although he had not communicated these conclusions to Terrence O'Connor, Moore testified that he placed the memo summarizing his meeting with Reyes in the case file that he turned over to Lopez's subsequent attorney, Heather Shaner, who entered an appearance in the case on April 24, 1997.