VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A judge heard pretrial motions Monday in the case against former Virginia Beach sheriff’s deputy Eric Baptiste, one of three former deputies charged in connection with the death of Rolin Hill.
Baptiste’s attorneys asked the judge to delay his Sept. 28 trial, arguing they recently received a significant amount of evidence and need additional time to review it.
A major focus of Monday’s hearing was evidence the defense says it received only recently, including hundreds of pages of medical and psychological records and videos connected to the case.
Defense attorneys said they received more than 132 videos from inside the 7-11 convenience store where the incident began on Aug. 26, along with 38 jail surveillance videos. The videos total more than two hours of footage, according to the defense.
Attorneys also said some body-camera footage they expected to receive is still missing. They said that it includes video from the first encounter between officers and Hill.
The defense also said it is missing a clip that allegedly shows Hill kicking a police officer and dislodging the officer’s body camera, according to notes from a Virginia State Trooper.
Attorneys argued that footage could be important in establishing the timeline of events.
Prosecutors opposed the request to delay the trial, arguing the case is still about four weeks from the scheduled trial date.
The judge did not make a decision on Monday on whether to continue the trial. Instead, the court said it would revisit the request before the scheduled Sept. 28 trial date on Sept. 24.
The court also addressed medical and psychological records that could be used in Baptiste’s self-defense claim.
A protective order covering Hill’s medical and psychological records has been lifted, allowing defense experts to review the records.
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