By
Denise Blaz
A
criminal case against a Hamlin man accused in a 2011 shooting has been
dismissed after it was revealed that a police officer failed to interview a key
witness, Jones County prosecutors said.
The
officer since has been fired for misconduct unrelated to the case.
Michael
Ozzy Quinonez, 22, had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon in the March 2, 2011, shooting of Refugio Flores in the 50 block of
Northeast Avenue A.
On
Monday, Jones County District Attorney Joe Edd Boaz said the case had been
dropped.
According
to Hamlin police, Quinonez shot Flores once in the abdomen with a .380-caliber
pistol.
Quinonez
said the shooting was in self-defense to protect his girlfriend after Flores
and another man "kicked in the door and attacked her."
Flores
said Quinonez's story was false and that the shooting occurred "for no
reason."
According
to court papers, Boaz learned of the existence of a "key eyewitness"
Thursday, two days before Quinonez was scheduled to stand trial for the
second-degree felony. The case was dismissed Friday.
Hamlin
police officer Joshua Coffee failed to make a supplemental report and failed to
take a witness statement from a neighbor who saw the incident, Boaz said. The
witness' account contradicted statements by existing state witnesses, Boaz
said.
"This
office in good conscience cannot proceed with the prosecution of Michael Ozzy
Quinonez," Boaz said in a motion to dismiss. "After discussing this
new development in the case with the victim, it is the somber duty of the
prosecuting attorney to request dismissal of the charges."
Quinonez's
attorney, Trey Keith, said he was glad the charge was dismissed, but had no
further comment.
Hamlin
Police Chief Ray Moseley said Monday that he did not know whether any other
cases Coffee was involved in have been compromised.
"I
can't get into that," Moseley told the Reporter-News. "There aren't
any more that I know of — yet."
Coffee
was fired Aug. 5 after officials with the Hamlin Police Department said he used
his police-issued stun gun on an unidentified man during a party. Coffee
appealed his termination, but the decision was upheld by the Hamlin City
Council, according to Reporter-News archives.
Coffee
is awaiting prosecution on charges of theft of a firearm by a public servant
and possession of marijuana, according to court documents.