SNOW HILL -- Alexander Crippen is no longer charged with the murder of Reginald Jerome Handy Jr. after a Circuit Court judge approved a motion to dismiss the charges at a pretrial hearing.Deputy State's Attorney Michael Farlow did not object to the dismissal of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree assault charges against Crippen.
"The forensic evidence would have made it impossible to prove Mr. Crippen is the person who killed Reginald Handy," Farlow said, noting Crippen is still charged with the first- and second-degree attempted murder of Torrance Davis, Crippen's cousin, along with separate first- and second-degree assault charges and other related offenses.
Arthur McGreevy, Crippen's lawyer, said it felt good to get the murder charge against his client dropped. He is focusing on the trial scheduled to begin Monday.
"At the trial, I believe my client will be exonerated of all the charges," said McGreevy. "He was not any of the people firing weapons on that day."The shooting death of Handy occurred on May 26 at about 10 p.m. in Pocomoke City, when he was shot once in the back before being transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where he was pronounced dead, according to police and court records.
Upon searching the area where Handy was shot, McGreevy says police found six .45-caliber shell casings, six other shell casings and a .223 rifle cartridge.
The deputy state's attorney and defense council put several additional motions in front of Judge Richard R. Bloxom, including allowing audiovisual equipment in the court during the trial, redacting objectionable statements in Crippen's interview transcripts and correcting a typographical error in court documents.
In a July interview, Davis said he and his cousin didn't know Crippen personally before the night Handy died, and disputed police accounts that had Crippen arguing with Handy beforehand.
