Witnesses Testify in Moore Trial

November 17, 2009

Two witnesses in the robbery trial of Eric Moore, left, testified before Judge Anthony Aloi at the Onondaga County Courthouse this afternoon. Assistant District Attorney Michael Kasmarek presented his case before the jury, questioning Syracuse Police Department Evidence Technician Shawn Mehlek and victim Lissette Tejeda.

“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Moore said to reporters during a recess in the trial. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know after this is all over whether I'm at the Justice Center or on the street."


Moore, 35, is on trial for the burglary of Tejeda’s home at 2012 Bellevue Avenue on the southwest side of Syracuse on Aug. 19, 2008. His brother, Charles Moore, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary last Thursday in exchange for a five-year sentence.


An officer at the scene on the morning of Aug. 19 told Mehlek that three men wearing gloves with bandanas over their faces broke into Tejeda's home and ransacked the house, taking $500 in cash, Mehlek said.


“No prints were left behind,” Mehlek said.


After Mehlek's testimony, Kasmarek called Tejeda to the stand. She identified Moore as one of the three men wearing bandanas over their faces who broke into her home and as the man who entered her bedroom and duct taped her hands and mouth.


“When he turned his head he exposed his face I recognized who it was,” Tejeda said. “I said ‘Eric, why are you doing this to me?’ and he said 'my name is not Eric, bitch.'"


Tejeda told Kasmarek that after one of the three men brought Tejeda's daughters, Elizabeth, 8, and Liandra, 10, into her bedroom, Tejeda told them the money was located in her bedroom closet. After three men left with the money, Tejeda's daughters helped take the duct tape off their mother and find a phone to call 911, Tejeda said.


"He told me not to call the police or else he would be back," Tejeda said.