New evidence emerges in case against accused cop-killer Othal Wallace

Attorneys Friday argued over whether new evidence should be admitted in the trial of Othal Wallace, the man accused of killing Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor.

New testimony claims Raynor was possibly investigating a report of a stolen vehicle that looked similar to the one Wallace was in when prosecutors said he fatally shot Raynor.

The judge said he was inclined to admit the evidence but would do more research before issuing a ruling.

Wallace, 31, was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Raynor in 2021. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Assistant State Attorney Jason Lewis questioned Daytona Beach Police Crime Analyst Priscilla Pringle about an email she sent on June 23 a little after midnight regarding a gray 2014 Honda CR-V, which was reported stolen. The Honda CR-V had been detected by a license plate reader.

Wallace was sitting in a gray Honda HR-V when Raynor went to question him shortly before the officer was shot, according to records.

One of Wallace's defense attorneys, Tim Pribisco, questioned Pringle about whether she could tell if an officer had opened that email. Pringle said she could not tell, but that it would have been sent to all Daytona Beach police officers.

Former Daytona Beach police officer Amanda Dickens testified that Raynor reviewed such emails. She said she had discussed with Raynor about the BOLO, or "be on the lookout," for the stolen Honda. She said Raynor told her that he was going to look for the stolen car in the area of the city where such cars are usually dumped.

Under questioning by Pribisco, Dickens, who is now an Orange County Sheriff's deputy, said she did not file a report about the conversation she had with Raynor regarding going to look for the car.

Pribisco said that it was only until a couple of months ago at her deposition that she mentioned the conversation.

According to previous reports, Raynor was patrolling the area because of complaints about criminal activity when he encountered Wallace. Previous reports did not state that Raynor approached Wallace because of a stolen car report.

Pribisco argued that introducing evidence about the stolen car would prejudice the jury against Wallace and suggest the officer had a reason to question him.

Lewis argued the issue of the stolen car was relevant. Lewis also said prosecutors could not bring Raynor into court and ask him why he decided to question Wallace because Wallace had killed him.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano presided over the hearing at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach. Zambrano said he was inclined to agree with prosecutors that the stolen car evidence was relevant. But the judge wanted to do more analysis on any prejudicial issues it could cause with the jury before issuing a written ruling.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza sat the state table along with Assistant State Attorneys Andrew Urbanak and Lewis.

Wallace sat with his defense attorneys, Pribisco, Garry Wood and Terry Shoemaker. Wallace wrote notes on a legal pad and spoke with attorneys at times during the hearing.

Zambrano reviewed a body camera video of the shooting in his chambers. The defense provided the judge a flash drive with the video and Zambrano asked about placing unfamiliar flash drives in his computer. Lewis said he had just used it and it was OK.

Zambrano joked that he was not sure he should trust him anymore than the defense, which drew laughter from those in the courtroom.

Prosecutors also said that they would no longer seek to introduce any claim that Wallace was a member of a gang as an aggravator in support of the death penalty.

Defense: Raynor's questioning of Wallace was unlawful detention

The defense plans to argue that Raynor’s questioning of Wallace was an unlawful detention.

In doing so, Pribisco said the defense wants to introduce evidence about a stop Raynor made in January 2021 in which the police department later found Raynor had violated department policy. Pribisco said Raynor stopped a woman and threatened to break the window on the car she was driving. Pribisco also said Raynor handcuffed the woman and slammed her onto the hood of the car. The department had recommended that Raynor receive a 12-hour suspension stemming from the incident.

Urbanak said that introducing such character evidence is not allowed under case law unless Wallace was claiming self-defense and the defense has not claimed that thus far.

Urbanak also said that if the court allowed character evidence then trials would last for months as both sides called witnesses to testify about a person’s character, both good and bad.

Zambrano said he would issue a written ruling at a later time.

Defense: Florida's death penalty unconstitutional

Defense attorney Wood also challenged the constitutionality of Florida's death penalty, arguing that it was an outlier since it only requires eight of 12 jurors to recommend death before a judge can sentence someone to death. Wood argued the standard should be a unanimous jury recommendation.

The state earlier this year cut the amount of jurors needed to recommend death from all 12 to eight. The move came after three jurors in the trial of Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, recommended life. That meant the judge had to sentence Cruz to life.

Wood also argued that applying the new non-unanimous jury law to Wallace would subject to him to a retroactive application of the law.

Lewis argued that state law still had safeguards, such as requiring jurors to unanimously find one aggravator. Also, if at least eight jurors did not recommend death, the judge could not sentence the person to death. And a death sentence gets an automatic appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Zambrano said that Florida had previously only required seven jurors to recommend death for the judge to have that option. Zambrano added that the U.S. Supreme Court had not issued any requirement that the death penalty recommendation be unanimous. Zambrano said he was being "kind of" guided by that although he said he would issue a ruling at a later date.

The trial will take place at the Clay County Courthouse at 825 N. Orange Ave. in Green Cove Springs, approximately 80 miles away from Daytona Beach. The venue was changed after the defense expressed concern about the media attention the case has received in Volusia County.

The shooting of Officer Raynor

Raynor was patrolling in an area of Daytona Beach on June 23, 2021, because residents had complained of criminal activity. Raynor went to question Wallace who was sitting in a car outside of an apartment building at 133 Kingston Ave., where Wallace was living with his girlfriend and their children, according to reports.

Police said Wallace shot Raynor in the head. Raynor’s gun was found still in its holster.

Wallace was arrested on June 26, 2021, when a task force found him hiding in a treehouse in DeKalb County, Georgia, near Atlanta.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Attorneys in Daytona Beach cop-killing case spar over new testimony