Both sides presented their opening arguments and six witnesses testified Tuesday in the Cayuga County Court trial of an Auburn woman charged with murder in connection with a deadly shooting in March.Â
Shameek Copes, 28, of 1 Jefferson St., Apt. 1, is on trial for charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors have accused her of fatally shooting John Wesley Smith III, 37, of Syracuse, in front of Swifty's Tavern on Perrine Street in Auburn in the early morning hours of March 15.
Ten jurors were selected Monday on the first day of Copes' trial. Copes was back in court Tuesday, wearing a blue shirt instead of the Cayuga County Jail uniform she's worn during pre-trial proceedings.
Following jury selection that took all day Monday and about an hour on Tuesday morning, Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci began her opening arguments by saying that on March 15, Copes "fired three rounds" into Smith's body, killing him instantly.
Grome Antonacci added that Smith and Copes were not strangers to one another, and there were people they knew at the bar that night. Smith didn't know his time talking to people outside the bar would be "the last minutes of his life," she added.Â
Grome Antonacci said Copes was handed a gun by a relative, went outside the bar and shot Smith. Grome Antonacci also told the jury they would learn about how Copes "fled" the scene. Copes turned herself in to a police department in South Carolina in late March, days after an arrest warrant was issued in Cayuga County.
The district attorney said Swifty's had video surveillance that jurors would see during the trial that would show Copes' involvement in the shooting. She also said there were people at the bar that night who were "less than forthcoming" to law enforcement, adding that the DA's office did not want to bring forth such witnesses.
Grome Anotancci later told the jury "we are confident that after hearing the facts," they would convict Copes.
Rome Canzano, Copes' attorney, next gave his opening argument, telling the jury about information "the government" would be giving them and later saying "you will hear no witness say they saw Shameek Copes shoot anybody."
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of an Auburn woman accused of murdering a Syracuse man outside a city tavern last winter.
Canzano addressed potential video evidence, as well, saying footage the prosecutors may present does not definitively show Copes committing the crime.
In addition, Canzano said there is a witness he believes prosecutors will call to the stand who was also involved in the case, but he said that person's credibility is questionable.
Canzano did not identify that potential witness, but there are two other people, Adrian Agee and Junnell Copes, both of Auburn, who were arraigned in April on felony charges related to Smith's death.
Agee was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, while Junnell Copes was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
Agee has pleaded guilty to weapon possession and the hindering prosecution charge. During the investigation, prosecutors have said, law enforcement recovered an "unrelated weapon," a loaded pistol, on Agee's property, adding that law enforcement also determined Agee hid the murder weapon in a public storm drain.
Following an hour-long break for lunch, the jury heard from six witnesses: Ben Guzalak, deputy administrator for Cayuga County 911; Ann Marie Tomandl, co-owner of Swifty's Tavern; Luke Parker, officer and evidence technician with the Auburn Police Department; Don Laraway, identification officer with the APD; Joseph DiVietro, confidential investigator with the DA's office; and Lt. David Walters of the APD.Â
During his testimony, Walters said he was familiar with and could recognize people who had been at the scene, such as Smith and Copes, and said he also recognized Agee and Junnell Copes.
Walters talked about video surveillance footage from Swifty's, including color footage that he said shows Shameek Copes and Agee walk into a bathroom at the bar, and then Copes walking out of the bathroom and out of the bar. In the footage of the defendant walking out, Walters said, it appears that Copes has a firearm at this point.
Black-and-white video security footage from outside the bar was then shown in which gunshots could be heard, and Walters identifies a figure in the footage as Smith and a person running away from the area. Grome Antonacci asked who the figure in the video fleeing the scene was, and Walters said it was Copes.
AUBURN — John Wesley Smith III was a protector.
