Jury seated in case against Marcus Moore
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on September 13, 2005 1:48 PM
A 26-year-old Goldsboro man went on trial Monday in Wayne County Superior Court for the first-degree murder of another Goldsboro man.
Marcus Dominique Moore of Denmark Street was accused of the predawn shooting of Jonathan Deon Yarborough, 31, of Beal Street on April 16, 2004, near Denmark and Hinson streets.
Police say the shooting centered around a drug dispute between the two men.
A jury of nine women and three men was selected to hear the case before Judge Jay D. Hockenbury of Wilmington, which is expected to take a week. Two alternates also were selected.
The defense is expected to claim the shooting was justified because of self-defense. During jury selection, defense lawyer Geoff Hulse of Goldsboro said, "More than likely the evidence will show that the defendant fired the gun" that killed the victim.
Moore does not face the death penalty. If he is convicted of first-degree murder, he would be sentenced to life in prison.
Assistant District Matt Delbridge and Hulse were expected to make their opening statements today. Then Delbridge was to open the state's case with testimony from eyewitnesses and police officers.
Goldsboro police said in their initial reports that an unidentified neighbor heard the gunshots and called 911. The first officer to arrive, Chris Crawford, found Yarborough's body at 1:30 a.m. in the yard on the north side of a small green home at 511 Denmark St.
Crawford then radioed for assistance. Investigator Mike Moore, Identifications Officer Linda M. Keesler and special agents from the State Bureau of Investigation responded with others.
Moore was developed as a suspect through interviews, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was not apprehended until a day later after an anonymous call to Goldsboro-Wayne County Crime Stoppers.