150 Year Sentence Upheld

A man sentenced to 150 years for allegedly shooting his ex-girlfriend and threatening three Shreveport Police officers with a gun, will not get a new trial despite pleas from defense attorneys. Not only will Raymond Darnell not get a new trial, he wont be granted a new sentence either. Caddo District Court Judge Scott Crichton made the ruling this afternoon. Defense attorneys were trying to prove officer Morgan king was an eyewitness to the fact that Darnell never fired at officers in may of last year. They also said his dash cam video would prove it, and alleged that the district attorney knew about the tape and had it destroyed before Darnell went to trial. Monday attorneys for Raymond Darnell brought their case before Caddo District Judge Scott Crichton, alleging prosecutors withheld evidence. The dashcam video in question was recorded in the patrol car of former Shreveport Police Corporal Morgan King. After 17 years of service, King recently was fired because of the way he handled the incident. Dashcam video from other officers shows King running away from the scene. During his testimony, Morgan King admitted he was at the scene but he never filed a formal police report and that he never contacted attorneys for either side until after Mr. Darnell had already been sentenced. Since King never filed a report on the incident, his dashcam tape was never set aside as evidence and was eventually erased. The prosecution also called several witnesses in an attempt to take away from Morgan King’s credibility as a witness.