Whether murder suspect Leon Grimes will be going to trial on Monday or not is up in the air, following debates concerning evidence at a pretrial conference Wednesday afternoon in Christian Circuit Court.
Grimes, who is charged with murder in the 2021 shooting death of Calvin Buckner, is represented by defense attorney Ted Shouse, who expressed confusion about a motion filed by the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to continue the trial as they await testing results to come back from the state lab.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen contends that one of the guns was located near the victim that night, and the testing is just as capable of helping Grimes as hurting him.
Shouse argued that Grimes was never in possession of that gun. A video was shown during court Wednesday that Shouse says shows where the gun in question was located, and Judge Andew Self determined it was found in the waistband of the victim. Although the lab has had the gun since December of 2021, the lab does not current have DNA from Grimes, meaning that after they receive that sample, it will still be two-to-three months before the testing is completed.
Shouse argues that trial has been set for months in this case, and the Commonwealth doesn’t have valid reason to delay this trial for testing that he considers not relevant.
Ultimately, Judge Self set an evidentiary hearing for Thursday morning at 10 a.m. to hear from a witness that states they possibly saw Grimes put something on the victim’s body before making a decision on delaying trial.
Shouse informed the court that if the trial is delayed, he intends to argue for his client’s release pending trial.
Grimes is alleged to have shot Calvin Buckner in the chest at a party on Hazel Street in July of 2021.