INDIANAPOLIS -- Larry Taylor, one of the three men accused of the murder of Amanda Blackburn, has lost a bid to retain cellphone record experts at public expense.
Larry Jo Taylor, 21, faces charges of murder, burglary, robbery and theft in connection with Blackburn’s death in November 2015. Two other men, Jalen Watson and Diano Gordon, have also been charged in the case. Taylor also faces additional charges of robbery and murder in connection with the death of Rolando Gonzalez-Hernandez a week prior to Blackburn’s death.
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Taylor has been representing himself in the case since he filed a motion to be allowed to proceed pro se in January, citing “ineffective council [sic]” in a letter to the judge presiding over the case.
On March 22, he filed a motion asking the court to retain Cherry Biometrics Inc. as an expert witness at the county’s expense.
On its website, the Virignia-based company bills itself as “the only experts to have ever won innocence, habeas, Dauberts and the exclusion of drive tests, drone tests, LSITE and call detail records against historical cell site analysis.”
In his motion, Taylor argues that the company’s expertise is necessary to “prepare and present an adequate defense.”
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed its own motion requesting Judge Grant Hawkins deny Taylor’s request – which he did in court on Monday.
Hawkins also assigned a public defender to assist Taylor in conducting depositions on witnesses in the case, including his co-defendants and several IMPD detectives. One of Taylor’s co-defendants, Jalen Watson, has agreed to plead guilty in the case and testify against Taylor.
Earlier this year, Hawkins granted Taylor permission to review, by way of his public defender, an unpublished manuscript of a book being written by Blackburn’s husband, Davey. Publication of the book, to be titled “Nothing is Wasted,” has been delayed until after trials in the case have completed.
READ MORE | Davey Blackburn’s unpublished book could be used in wife’s murder trial
Taylor’s next court appearance was scheduled for a pretrial conference on March 13 to confirm jury dates. His trial is scheduled to begin on June 25.
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