Trial begins for man involved in five-county car chase that ended with death of Lexington man
A murder trial began on Monday against 42-year-old Nathaniel Harper, accused of murder and other charges – exactly five years to the day after he allegedly committed the crimes.
Harper is facing a murder charge, fleeing or evading police, and receiving stolen property following an incident on August 29, 2017, which led to a five-county pursuit with police and resulted in the death of 57-year-old Anthony Moore of Lexington.
Both the prosecution led by assistant commonwealth attorneys Brad Bryant and James Judge, and the defense led by Chris Tracy, bluegrass regional manager/assistant general counsel for the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, and Shannon Brooks, gave their opening statements.
Prosecution: ‘Crash scene to murder investigation’
Judge spoke first, giving a narrative of what happened early in the morning hours of Aug. 29.
According to his statements, the fatal incident began in Lawrenceburg around 1 a.m. when a woman called the police to report her husband’s 2003 black Dodge truck had been stolen out of her driveway.
Officers in Shelby County found the driver, later identified as Harper, on Interstate 64 where they attempted a traffic stop, but Harper sped off.
Judge said this began the pursuit where Harper fled Anderson, Shelby, Franklin and Woodford counties, and reached speeds of up to 107 miles per hour. The prosecutor said Harper allegedly tried ramming a Kentucky State Police officer in pursuit, sped through an active construction zone, ran over a median, popped his tires on spike strips, and continued to flee.
Ultimately, Judge stated Harper got off the Newtown Pike exit of Interstate 75, taking the flight into downtown Lexington. There, he lost control of the vehicle, which flipped several times over a median, and caught fire after hitting the curb, striking a telephone pole on Old Georgetown Street and Maryland Avenue.
Police on the scene pulled Harper from the vehicle and extinguished the flames, according to court testimony. Officers established a perimeter around what was initially a crash scene – until first responders located the body of Moore in debris from the truck nearby in the bushes.
“From there it went to a crash scene to a murder investigation,” Judge told the jurors.
According to Judge, Moore – an Army veteran and former sanitation worker for the city – died from extreme blunt force trauma injuries suffering a brain bleed, damage to all organs, fractures, and internal decapitation.
“When you have heard the evidence in this case, you will believe (Harper) murdered Anthony Moore,” Judge said. “He knew what he did was wrong, he knew that and he did it anyway. His conduct was extreme. … Under the law of Kentucky (his actions) constitute murder. At the end of the trial, we ask that you find the defendant guilty of the murder of Anthony Moore.”
Defense: Defendant held ‘regard for human life’
Defense counsel Chris Tracy told the jury the case of his client was nothing like what they had seen on television – it would not be tied up in an hour with a few “ah-ha moments.”
“If you think this is going to be like that, toss it out the window right now. This is not like those,” he said. “(Harper) is charged with three prison-time producing felonies. I am here to tell you he is guilty of three, prison time producing felonies. The question is which ones?”
Tracy admitted there was no doubt his client had fled police, and stolen the truck. However, the technicalities of what constitutes a murder charge was up for debate.
“There are a lot of things that we and the commonwealth tend to agree on. For instance, (Harper) got in a truck that was not his, and drove off in it … He saw police and it looked like they were going to pull him over and he didn’t pull over, we agree with that,” Tracy said.
“...His actions killed Moore. A homicide occurred. Whatever kind of homicide it is, it is a felony – prison time producing a felony that occurred to Mr. Moore. We also agree with the commonwealth, as you heard in voir dire, that it was not intentional. He did not set out to kill Mr. Moore, he did not intend for that to happen. But it is something that did happen and it happened because of his actions.”
He said the jury instructions would present different levels of homicide for the jurors to choose from with different elements to the murder crime. The specific element they would be asked to look at for Harper, was substantial and unjustified risk.
Tracy said the questions posed include whether Harper specifically did what he did being aware of the substantial or unjustified risks, and did he make a conscious disregard and fail to perceive the threat altogether?
“We are here to decide these questions to state of mind,” Tracy said. “It is technical, but it is not technicality because of the way the law is written and there is a reason for that. You as a jury have to listen with an open mind the entire trial and decide what exactly it is he did. He broke the law, and he is going to go to prison, but based on the evidence and despite the circumstances, he actually held considerable regard to the value of human life.”
Examples Tracy gave of Harper’s regard to human life included instances of him blowing his horn and trying to miss Moore -- which he thought he had. Also, Tracy stated Harper had his emergency blinkers on the truck. Finally, Harper’s upset reaction to finding out Moore had died, showed regard for human life, he said.
The jury heard an interview in the hospital that included the moment a detective with Kentucky State Police told Harper he had killed someone and was being charged with murder.
In the recording, Harper becomes audibly upset immediately after he hears the news, sobbing, and saying he did not want or mean for anyone to die and apologizing for what he had done.
The first day and part of the second day of the trial included testimony from witnesses called by the prosecution. This included KSP troopers and detectives, county sheriff’s deputies, Lexington emergency crews, Moore’s step father, and owners of the truck which was stolen.
