Montgomery lawyers close stolen-guns defense without calling their alternative-suspect witness
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Jun. 7—Testimony in the trial of accused gun dealer Adam Montgomery ended Wednesday with his lawyers calling just two witnesses — neither of whom was the alternative suspect offered by the defense.
Two Manchester police officers called to the stand contradicted statements made by a witness.
By the lunch hour, the case was in the hands of the Hillsborough County Superior Court jury. Jurors will decide whether Montgomery, 33, is guilty of stealing an AR-15 and 12-gauge shotgun from friends in fall 2019. Given his lengthy record, Montgomery faces decades in prison if found guilty.
Public defender Caroline Smith wrapped up the defense without calling Ismael "Ish" Garcia, the alternative suspect who Smith has claimed gave drugs to the wife of the gunowner in exchange for the two guns.
Garcia was on Smith's witness list. But without him taking the stand, defense attorneys could only theorize about the exchange in their closing argument.
Prosecutor Christopher Knowles referred to Garcia as "the boogeyman you've never heard from" during his closing remarks to the jury.
The trial is the first in what could be a string of trials for Montgomery, who is accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter Harmony in 2019. He faces trial for the murder charge in November.
The trial began last week. Former friends and associates turned into prosecution witnesses and testified about seeing Montgomery with the weapons, receiving offers from him to buy the weapons or, in the case of his wife, living with him with weapons in their home.
"The truth is he stole them, he possessed them. This is a remarkably simple case," said Knowles, an assistant attorney general. During his closing arguments, he showed images of Facebook messages that he said Montgomery exchanged with would-be gun buyers.
"I can't wait around with it," Montgomery messaged at one point, trying to make a quick sale.
"He provided us in these messages all we needed to prove him guilty," Knowles said.
But Montgomery's lawyers said the prosecution's case relied on people who told lies to curry favor with prosecutors to have their sentences reduced or charges dropped.
"When you rely on a lie, you reach the wrong conclusion," said public defender Robin Davis.
She faulted police for ignoring the gun thefts until Montgomery was arrested in 2022 as part of a "separate investigation," a vague allusion to the Harmony murder.
Davis and Smith have said that Montgomery was a middle man, and his transgression was trying to arrange a sale on behalf of Garcia. They said he never controlled or stole the guns, which makes him innocent of any crime.
The only witnesses called by Montgomery's lawyers were two police officers. Sgt. Kenneth Brunini testified about the Oct. 3, 2019, call to the home of Christopher and Kimberly Frain over the theft of three guns and some jewelry. She had actually pawned a supposedly stolen wedding ring before the theft, according to court filings.
Officer Erik Slocum testified about arresting Kimberly Frain two months later for possession of crack cocaine. At the time, she said Montgomery spent a night in her living room in October when the guns were stolen.
She told Slocum that Montgomery was in the house when she left the next morning and told him to lock the door behind her. During her testimony last week, Frain said Montgomery was gone when she woke up.
