With the Pipersburgh and Robateau murder case off his calendar, justice John Gonzalez today began hearing another sensational criminal trial - the manslaughter case against Mark Gardiner who allegedly gunned down Gregory Batty at a high school football game last march.
The case didn't get very far though as prosecutor Kevin Arthurs asked Justice Gonzalez if he could jettison the case, at least for the time being by entering a 'Nolle Prosequi'. The strategy being to release Gardiner and then re-arrest him at a later date when investigators have put together a more credible case.
But Gardiner's attorney Linsbert Willis, of Pipersburgh and Robateau fame, argued that it was too late for that kind of maneuver because a jury has already been empanelled. Gonzalez will hear arguments on this technical matter from the attorneys tomorrow and the jury returns on Thursday.
The victim Gregory Batty was shot to death after an argument at a football game at the MCC grounds just over a year ago on March 14th 2003. Gardiner was originally charged along with Fransbert Pook with murder. All charges were dropped against Pook while the charges against Gardiner were later reduced to manslaughter.