PROVO, Utah — The trial of a man charged with shooting and killing Provo police officer Joseph Shinners over five years ago continued into its sixth day Wednesday.
State prosecutors first called Paradise Rodgers, an inmate at the Utah State prison who was working as a confidential informant for Provo Police the night of the shooting.
In her testimony, Rodgers explained how she had arranged to meet with Hoover via Facebook, and then relayed information to Shinners and other officers in order to facilitate Hoover's arrest.
Rodgers admitted under oath that her past history of drug use had an adverse effect on her memory, requiring her to review a video statement she had given police shortly after the incident happened prior to testifying.
Hoover's attorney, Mary Corporon, argued that Rodgers' past history of working with Provo Police, and Shinners specifically, made her a biased witness. She then went on to ask her about her prior interactions with Shinners prior to setting up the meeting with Hoover.
Rodgers explained that she first met Shinners after he arrested her boyfriend, but had been working as an informant prior to that meeting.
The jury then heard testimony from Det. Eric Ahlborn, currently with the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office, who was with Orem Police on the night of January 5, 2019 shooting. Ahlborn stated that he was first paged to the scene of the shooting as part of an investigation team, but was then directed to Utah Valley Hospital where Hoover was transported, in order to secure the firearms and other evidence from the case.
Ahlborn then explained that the guns were retrieved from another officer's police cruiser in the parking lot of the hospital. He also testified that he was given Hoover's clothing by hospital staff, which he then transferred to another detective, who then took them back to the scene of the shooting to hand off to the forensics team for testing.
On cross examination, defense attorney Jonathan Nish pressed Ahlborn on the fact that he didn't actually set foot on the scene of the shooting itself. The defense also asked Ahlborn about how the evidence was collected, noting how the guns were placed into paper bags when Ahlborn collected them, while Hoover's clothing was placed in plastic bags by the hospital staff.
Ahlborn explained that paper bags are usually used when evidence has biological material, such as blood, in order to prevent trapped moisture from accelerating the degradation process.
Deb Moultrie, a forensic nurse who was also called to the hospital to draw Hoover's blood on January 6, 2019, was called to the stand next. Her testimony focused on the process of drawing blood, particularly when collecting for criminal investigations.
During cross-examination, Nish asked for clarification on the date and time of the blood draw and established that Moultrie, during her time as a forensic nurse, only worked with law enforcement.
