MA Judge Upholds Evidence in Arson LODD Case

Jan. 25, 2021
A judge has ruled that certain evidence will not be tossed in the case against a man who set a December 2018 fire that killed Worcester firefighter Christopher Roy.

WORCESTER - An error a judge made in a recent ruling in the murder case of accused arsonist Momoh Kamara will not result in evidence being thrown out of court.

Kamara is charged with setting the December 2018 fire at which city firefighter Christopher Roy died.

A brief pretrial proceeding took place in Worcester Superior Court Monday morning.

Kamara’s lawyer, Blake J. Rubin, had asked last month that a judge throw out evidence obtained in a search of Kamara’s West Boylston home following an error in a legal finding.

In an initial ruling upholding the search, Judge Daniel M. Wrenn had errantly considered a fact that was not contained in the search warrant affidavit at issue in the motion.

In a follow-up ruling Dec. 22, Wrenn ruled there was still enough other evidence in the affidavit to justify the search of Kamara’s home.

That means evidence police found inside the home, including a garment authorities allege suffered heat damage, will still be available at trial.

It is unclear when a trial might begin. Wrenn last month had signaled a trial might be feasible for March, but there was no discussion of a possible trial date Monday.

Instead, Rubin indicated he intended on filing a motion for “certain business records” that he said “may exist” at a laundromat.

He did not offer further details, and the motion had not been filed as of Monday morning. Wrenn scheduled Feb. 25 as a date to hear arguments on the topic.

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