Judge gives prosecutors green light to use social media posts in contract killing trial

MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) – A federal judge on Wednesday gave prosecutors the green light to use the social media posts of a murder-for-hire defendant at his trial.

Attorneys for 20-year-old Darrius Dewayne Rowser of Prichard had sought to bar such evidence, arguing it was irrelevant, could not be authenticated and would only serve to cast the defendant in a bad light. That evidence included a video he sent showing him firing an illegally modified weapon and messages in which he discussed various aspects of the plot.

U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer dissented, but ruled that the defense could object to individual pieces of evidence if the prosecution attempted to introduce them at trial.

Prosecutors allege Rowser attempted to kill a man at the behest of co-defendant John Fitzgerald McCarroll Jr. The plan led to shootings at two nightclubs, a Walmart and a casino in Mississippi in 2022, prosecutors said.

The judge also agreed with the prosecution on two other points. The first was to prohibit the testimony of a weapons expert. The defense doubted that the prosecution's expert had carried out the analysis of a seized Glock pistol in a “reliable manner.”

On the second point, Moorer decided that the government can introduce certain financial and medical records.

The trial is scheduled for next month.

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