HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The second trial for Nicholas Moore’s alleged shooting in October 2020 began with jury selection.
On Monday morning in the Superior Court of Guam, Moore was scheduled to begin jury selection and trial before Judge Alberto Tolentino, according to court calendars.
Moore faces charges of aggravated assault, terrorizing and illegally possessing a weapon after he was accused of shooting a man in Agana Heights on Oct. 15, 2020.
According to court documents, Moore allegedly drove a black Ford F-150 pickup to the Agana Heights basketball court and his passenger shot a man in the knee. The man was taken to Naval Hospital Guam with a gunshot wound.
In April 2021, the person shot in Agana Heights initially identified Moore as the shooter, but later told police he wasn’t sure. The victim reportedly told police he believes another man was the intended target in the shooting because the man had stolen money from Moore.
Court documents state the other man admitted to authorities he had stolen money from Moore, adding Moore confronted him at the gym before the shooting. He also told officers that another man, who was confirmed to be a source of information to authorities, was in the passenger seat of the Ford F-150.
Mistrial
Moore’s first trial began in July 2022 and went on until the end of the year, filled with lengthy delays throughout.
One of the delays was a two-month break for jurors, who were scheduled to return in January. However, Judge Alberto Tolentino didn’t make it back to the courtroom after dealing with medical issues.
With the extensive break and it being unclear when Tolentino was going to return, Moore’s defense counsel requested a mistrial from Judge Arthur Barcinas. The mistrial was granted later in January, according to Post files.
Jury selection began in May, and attorneys at the time believed the jury selection process would move along more quickly than it did for the first trial.
However, since then, after Typhoon Mawar, Moore made several appearances in court where he was placed on pretrial release, and it was decided the drive-by shooting case would be put on hold. Moore’s case related to the death of Michael Castro’s murder also in October 2020 was set to go forward first, Post files state.
As of press time, The Guam Daily Post could not confirm the reasons for the change in the scheduling.
Nicholas Moore is seen before a hearing in the Superior Court of Guam on Thursday morning, July 13, 2023.
