A Mobile County judge ruled Tuesday that prosecutors presented enough evidence to send the case against Marco Perez to a grand jury, clearing the way for jurors to decide whether the 21-year-old should be indicted on capital murder charges in the shooting death of Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder.
Circuit Judge Ben Brooks, who was specially appointed to preside over the district court phase of the case for continuity, said the state met its burden of showing probable cause after hearing testimony from Mobile Police homicide detective Jermaine Rogers. The ruling means Perez’s case will now be bound over to a Mobile County grand jury, which will weigh whether to formally indict him on capital murder charges in circuit court.
Tuder, a member of a Mobile Police patrol unit focused on gang activity, was shot and killed Jan. 20 in the parking lot of the Peach Place Apartments in West Mobile. Investigators say Perez, who was wanted on an unrelated warrant and had been the subject of an active manhunt in the days before the shooting, opened fire on Tuder as the officer attempted to take him into custody.
Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said after the hearing that the grand jury process could take anywhere from six to nine months to play out. In the meantime, Brooks has ordered prosecutors, investigators and Perez’s defense attorneys not to discuss the case publicly beyond procedural matters, a gag order he said he issued out of an abundance of caution given the intense scrutiny the case has drawn.
“I intend to see a fair and just trial for the defendant, the state and for the victim,” Brooks said from the bench. “I expect everyone involved in this case to handle themselves as professionals and to ensure that this defendant is treated no worse or no better than any other person accused of a crime.”
Detective Rogers’ testimony, drawn largely from surveillance footage and witness statements, offered new detail about the hours leading up to Tuder’s death. Rogers testified that Tuder was off duty and at home on Jan. 20 when a confidential informant told him Perez had been spotted at the apartment complex. According to Rogers, the informant had been exchanging Snapchat messages that day with both Tuder and Perez, though Perez did not know an officer had been alerted to his location. Instead, the informant told Perez she was waiting for her uncle to pick her up, and separately told Tuder what Perez was wearing and that he was armed.
Rogers said Tuder drove his personal 2017 silver Volkswagen to the complex and was dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt bearing an American flag and a black jacket, with his badge and service weapon on his belt. Investigators pulled footage from five surveillance cameras at the complex, but Rogers testified the cameras did not capture the actual shooting, which happened just outside their range.
Based on the footage he reviewed, Rogers said Tuder got out of his car and pointed his weapon at Perez almost immediately after arriving. Because the video had no audio, investigators could not confirm whether Tuder identified himself as a police officer, though Rogers said the footage appeared to show Tuder giving verbal commands. Perez initially raised his hands, Rogers said, before Tuder approached him and holstered his weapon. The two men then became involved in what Rogers described as a physical struggle, moving out of camera range for roughly 46 seconds before gunshots were heard.
Rogers testified that around eight bystanders were captured on nearby cameras reacting to the gunfire, but said none of them, including people seen speaking with Perez before the shooting, have been identified or interviewed by investigators. Another camera captured Perez retrieving his hat near Tuder’s car before fleeing into a wooded area behind the complex, according to Rogers.
Investigators recovered four shell casings at the scene, one of which was unfired; none matched Tuder’s service weapon. Rogers testified that when officers apprehended Perez, he told them, “I messed up. I messed up,” and complained about being shocked with a Taser, though it was not clear during Tuesday’s hearing which officers were involved in his arrest.
During cross-examination, defense attorneys pressed Rogers on whether Tuder was technically on duty at the time of the shooting and questioned whether Perez knew he was confronting a police officer. Investigators have maintained that Tuder identified himself as an officer when he arrived. Rogers testified that three cell phones were recovered from the scene, and that investigators have subpoenaed Snapchat in hopes of retrieving records of the deleted conversations between Perez, Tuder and the informant.
The informant has agreed to testify both at trial and before the grand jury, Rogers said, though it remains unclear whether Snapchat will be able to produce records of the messages that were deleted.