Several trial housekeeping matters were handled during a pretrial conference in Christian Circuit Court Friday morning for murder suspect Rudolfo Amaya, who is set to go to trial on May 20.
Amaya is represented by public defender Doug Moore, whose first motion looked to exclude the autopsy photos of the victim in the case—Dante Welch—saying their gruesome nature wouldn’t add anything to the case and the Commonwealth had no objection.
Judge John Atkins says any experts can certainly refer to those photos at trial, but they would not be included in jury evidence. Moore also questioned the wording on the indictment against Amaya, saying it’s not specific enough—so Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Greg Cortese told the court he’ll amend the indictment to include the word ‘intentionally’.
It’s likely the trial will take about three days to complete, with a break on Wednesday to allow for regular court proceedings in other cases. Judge Atkins asked if there was any chance of a resolution before trial, and both parties were confident there is not.
Amaya is charged with murder in the first degree and first-degree wanton endangerment in the fatal shooting death of 43-year-old Dante Welch.
He is alleged to have shot and killed Welch on New Gritton Avenue in Oak Grove in March of this year—he allegedly shot Welch, who was inside of a parked vehicle, in front of a toddler who was also in the vehicle.
The defense has previously stated they intend to pursue a mental illness defense at trial.