NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Defense attorneys say prosecutors want to use a 10-year-old misdemeanor battery charge as evidence against the man who fatally shot former NFL player Joe McKnight.
Matthew Goetz (GETZ) said after a status conference Thursday that a hearing May 25 will discuss whether the earlier case qualifies as a “bad act” that can be used against 55-year-old Ronald Gasser of Terrytown.
Goetz describes it as a “misdemeanor, unadjudicated battery charge that he got a ticket for.”
Gasser has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in McKnight’s death.
He was arrested on a manslaughter charge after the Dec. 1 shooting, but a grand jury charged him with murder. The charge carries a mandatory life sentence if Gasser is convicted.
Defense attorney Gerard Archer has called the shooting justifiable homicide.
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