by Bill Knowles
WALSENBURG- Suppression of evidence was considered in the attempted murder trail of Boyd Gross on Wed. August 4. Third District Judge Charles Appel ruled that a zip drive found in a computer owned by Oakland Gas Processing, where Gross was employed at the time, was not the private property of Gross but belonged to the company.
That means anything on the zip drive, a device that plugs into the USB port of a computer and adds additional memory, is company property. As a result, the police don’t need permission from a defendant to search the contents. They need permission from Oakland Gas, owner of the computer in which the zip drive was found.
When the sheriff’s investigators viewed the content of the zip drive, they found company documents about Gross along with documents relating to Donna Gross, voice recordings of Donna and Boyd Gross, and some photos.
The contents of the zip drive, according to Judge Appel, is admissible as evidence and denied the defense motion to suppress the evidence found on the zip drive.
Other motions will be considered concerning the content of interviews and Miranda readings as well as how sheriff’s investigators conducted searches. The defense had to file her case law briefs by Mon. Aug. 9 and the DA has until Fri. Aug. 13, to file his.
John Nathan Pino entered a not guilty plea on Thurs. Aug. 5. Judge Charles Appel then scheduled a motion hearing for Oct. 21 at 1:30 pm in the Huerfano County Courthouse.
Trial on the first charge of domestic violence arising from an assault and battery charge was scheduled for Wed. Dec. 15. Pino’s second warrant will be tried on Wed. Jan. 19, 2011. In the second trial, Pino will face charges of attempted first degree murder, felony menacing and firearms violations. The events cover a four-day period from June 16 to June 20.
