Assistant Prosecutor James Scott said in this retrial, he plans to keep out a testimony that confused the jurors last time
TRENTON - The murder retrial for two men accused in the shooting death of an off-duty corrections officer is set to run next week - four months after the last trial ended in a hung jury.
And this time attorneys are changing just a few things.
The retrial for Hykeem Tucker and Maurice Skillman is expected to start Tuesday.
The men are accused of shooting to death off-duty Mercer County Corrections Officer Carl Batie at the Baldassari Regency Banquet hall in November, 2012.
The case went to trial in January but ended in a hung jury after four days of deliberation.
Tis time around, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor James Scott said that prosecutors do not plan on having a forensic scientist testify at the retrial, adding that it was something that confused jurors in January.
Scott said the forensic scientist's testimony did not tie Tucker and Skillman to the crime scene, making some jurors wonder why the testimony was included at all.
It was one of several issues that seem to add confusion to an already complicated case.
Tucker and Skillman are accused of arriving at the banquet hall during a party and firing 22 shots at a balcony where around 50 people stood, including Batie.
Brother describes shooting during trial
Surveillance videos of the incident showed two people leaving the banquet hall and rummaging through a car before coming to stand at the side of the frame just before the shooting.
Prosecutors argued that police had identified the men as Tucker and Skillman but defense attorney Nicole Carlo, who represents Tucker, said the videos were too grainy to correctly identify anyone.
The jury asked to rewatch a lot of the surveillance tapes over their four days of deliberation, according to Skillman's defense attorney, Chris Campbell.
Prosecutors ran into another issue when Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson criticized them for evidence that, "doesn't mean anything."
Smithson said in court that some of the physical evidence found at the scene - including a hat and a lighter - seemed to have no connection to Tucker and Skillman.
It's unclear what else - if anything - prosecutors plan to change in their arguments in the retrial, apart from not including the forensic scientist's testimony.
Jury selection should begin on Tuesday.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.