Jury may hear tape in attempted murder

AMERICAN FORK — Attorneys argued Friday about what a jury should hear and see during the trial of a man charged with attempted murder.

Alonzo Mosley, 35, is charged in 4th District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony. He is accused of, during a December fight, punching his 37-year-old girlfriend and keeping her head under water until she passed out in the bathroom of their Provo apartment.

He also was charged with a third-degree felony of witness tampering after allegedly making calls from the jail to a friend who witnessed the attack.

Mosley is accused of uttering racial slurs and making potentially inflammatory comments in the recorded calls, which are more prejudicial than they are probative, said defense attorney Richard Gale.

Gale argued the information from the tape of recorded calls could be obtained through testimony from other witnesses. He said he doesn't want the jury to convict his client just on the way he speaks.

However, Utah County prosecutor Chad Grunander said juries often hear ugly things and it's the job of the jury to weigh all the evidence and come to a conclusion. Plus, he said, the tape is essential to establishing motive and intent.

Judge David Mortensen said he wanted a copy of the calls and he would rule on which lines of the conversations must be deleted or recorded over before it can be presented to a jury.

Mortensen also requested copies of the pictures government prosecutors plan to submit to a jury. He will rule on which photos of the woman's injuries will be admissable to a jury to prevent redundant and potentially prejudicial images.

The two-day trial will begin May 8.