Opinion ID: 1898380
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The Gracco red herring

Text: Albert Gracco, an Atlantic City service station attendant, was robbed and shot in the neck by a shell from a .25 calibre handgun at approximately 3:30 a.m. on December 12, 1982. The shell casing was the same as that found at the liquor store. The State's expert determined that Gracco had been shot by the same calibre weapon used in the Carmichael and Compton shootings. Gracco described the assailant as a black male in his early twenties, about five feet eight inches in height and wearing a long trench coat. Johnson had given the same physical description of the man in Carmichael's apartment. Barry Turner, a friend of defendant, claimed that defendant had picked up Larry Long's trench coat. No gunpowder residue had been found on this trench coat. Gracco viewed a lineup that included defendant and six other inmates. He failed to identify defendant, but did identify another man. Defendant was never charged with the Gracco shooting. The State's theory of the case was that one need only follow the gun forward from Harrisburg to Larry Long's apartment, to Carmichael's apartment, to the liquor store, to see that defendant shot both Carmichael and Compton. The defense's theory, on the other hand, was that one need only follow the gun backwards from the Gracco shooting to see that defendant did not shoot any of the victims. Defendant complains that the trial judge referred to the Gracco incident as a red herring, and that although the prosecutor did not mention it in his opening statement, he was able to argue to the jury that defendant shot Gracco as well as the other two men.