Trial date set for alleged carjacker

A trial date for Leslie Mosby, the alleged carjacker involved in the shootout at 40th Street and Locust Walk last November, was set for Sept. 26 at a scheduling conference on Wednesday.

Complete discovery was passed at the conference, meaning that all police work has been filed, said Lorraine Donnelly, the assistant district attorney assigned to the case.

Partial discovery was passed at a pre-trial conference held March 2.

The six-month wait for the trial is not a long wait for Philadelphia criminal cases.

“Unfortunately, in Philadelphia, the dockets are very crowded,” Donnelly said. “That was the earliest date we could give him.”

At yesterday’s hearing, the judge had to find a date upon which both the prosecution and defense agreed.

“Everybody had to look at their calendar to see when they would be available,” spokeswoman for the DA Tasha Jamerson said. “All sides have to agree on a time.”

Some cases in Philadelphia could wait up to two years to start a trial, Jamerson said.

Mosby remains in custody and was not present at yesterday’s hearing. He was represented by public defender Myphrie Jayamaran.

Donnelly said that Mosby is being tried for two separate accounts, since the incident in November started out as a carjacking and then escalated into assault of police officers.

On the first account, Mosby faces charges of robbery of a motor vehicle and illegal possession of firearms. He allegedly carjacked a gray Cadillac at 50th and Arch streets just before 3 a.m. on Nov. 21. He then crashed the vehicle into the barriers located at 40th Street and Locust Walk, dropped his weapon and ran across High Rise Field.

Minutes later, he was apprehended by police at 39th and Walnut streets.

With regards to the second account of assaulting a police officer and attempted first-degree murder, the prosecution will have to prove that Mosby pointed his gun at the police with the intent to kill before dropping his weapon, Donnelly said.

There is holistic evidence that Karl Sappleton, Mosby’s codefendant who was with him in the vehicle, fired at police, Donnelly said. Sappleton was fatally shot by the police, who were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing for the incident on Jan. 24.

If the prosecution is able to prove the charges against Mosby beyond a reasonable doubt and Mosby is convicted, his sentencing will depend on several factors.

“There would be a question, if he were convicted of multiple counts, of whether or not he would serve his sentences concurrently,” Penn Law School professor Claire Finkelstein said in a Feb. 2 article of The Daily Pennsylvanian.

While Finklestein said the defendant is likely looking at “many years in prison … if proven guilty,” Donnelly does not expect Mosby to receive a life sentence.

“Some charges might be consecutive, but a life sentence would be highly unlikely,” she said.

Whether or not Mosby, if convicted, would receive the maximum sentences for each charge — and whether or not he would serve them concurrently or consecutively — is up to the discretion of the judge, Finklestein said.

Finklestein added that Mosby’s past criminal record should not influence whether or not he is proven guilty, but can impact the severity of his sentencing.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.