WINNEMUCCA — A man accused of twice shooting at another man in 2006 was in 6^th Judicial District Court on Monday (Jan. 25) for arraignment.  Nick Andrews, 21, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure.

Ballistics tests have positively matched a bullet retrieved from the alleged victim’s bedroom with a gun owned by Andrews.  Andrews denied pulling the trigger.

No trial date was set as the prosecutor has filed motions which may change the course of the case.

CASE HISTORY:  Events began on May 27, 2006 when a local resident called 911 to report two shots were fired in his neighborhood. He described the car he saw immediately after hearing the shots and noted it had a burned-out taillight.

Within five minutes officers from the Winnemucca Police Department pulled over a vehicle matching the description given by the witness – right down to the burned-out taillight.  There were two young men in the car:  driving was Matt Hutchinson and in the passenger seat was Andrews.

Andrews acknowledged he had a gun and handed it over.  The gun was examined and it was noted that two rounds had been fired.  However, the officer felt the gun had probably not been fired recently. 

At that time officers did not know someone had actually fired into the home of Jarrin Prokasky, who allegedly had an ongoing dispute with Andrews, but who was not home at the time as evidence of the shooting was not discovered until the next morning. 

WPD officers later testified they felt they lacked the probable cause necessary to seize the gun or hold the two men.  The gun and the bullets, though the bullets had been removed, were put back into Hutchinson’s vehicle.

After leaving the scene, Hutchinson and Andrews drove to a campsite in Sonoma Canyon where Hutchinson used the gun to shoot and kill George Moritz  in front of four other young people who were camping together.  Hutchinson’s girlfriend previously dated Moritz but no testimony has been offered as to an exact motive .

The gun used to kill Moritz was retrieved during the murder investigation.  Ballistics experts have positively linked the bullets from the murder and the drive-by shooting with the gun identified in court as belonging to Andrews.

Hutchinson is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of George Moritz, who 19 at the time of his death.

Andrews is facing charges of murder on allegations he aided and abetted Hutchinson in the murder.  Andrews’s first trial on charges of felony murder with the underlying charge of felony burglary ended with a hung jury on the murder charge; though, they convicted on the burglary charge.

Having served time in prison for the burglary, Andrews will now face a second murder trial in Pershing County in addition to the local charges stemming from two drive-by shootings.

THE CHARGES:  At the preliminary hearing stage, which was held in October 2009,  Andrews had two charges and two alternate charges in connection with allegations he twice shot at Jarrin Prokasky. 

Count I was discharging a firearm into an occupied structure or in the alternative attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon for allegedly shooting into the bedroom of Jarrin Prokasky.

The charge and alternate charge would allow the jury to listen to the evidence and decide for themselves if the evidence represented discharging a firearm in an occupied structure or attempted murder.

Count II was attempted murder or in the alternative discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle for allegedly shooting at Prokasky while he was in his car. 

The charge and alternate charge allow the jury to decide if the actions allegedly taken by the defendant represented an attempt to kill another man – or if those actions were simply firing at the man’s car while he was driving.

Following the preliminary hearing, Judge Gene Wambolt, of Union Township Justice Court, bound the case over for trial – but only on Counts I and II.  He found there was not enough evidence for the alternate charges.

THE PROSECUTOR SEEKS A SECOND OPINION:  The case is being prosecuted by the Pershing County DA’s Office.  Humboldt County DA Russell Smith felt his office would be unable to pursue prosecution because Andrews’s stepfather is a WPD officer – creating a conflict.

The special prosecutor, Pershing County DA Jim Shirley, has filed a motion with Judge Michael Montero in which he seeks to have the evidence reviewed and the alternate charges reinstated in the criminal information. In the motion he alleges the lower-court committed an egregious error in failing to bind over all the charges for the jury to consider.  He outlined the facts of the case and argued the evidence was there for the original charges and the alternates.

Andrews’s defense attorney, Marc Picker, filed his own motion to block that attempt.  He, too, outlined the evidence but he argued the facts were thin.  For example, he alleged the DA didn’t provide evidence the home of the victim was occupied at the time of the shooting.  In addition, he points out the alleged intended victim was not even home when the house was shot.  He noted, “It is clear that one cannot commit murder without a victim and similarly, one cannot commit attempted murder unless there was a possibility that a victim was present.”

Shirley countered that argument and noted the point wasn’t whether or not Prokasky was home, but whether or not Andrews believed he was home.

A hearing on the motions will be held at a later date so that each side can argue their case.  Afterwards, Montero will have to decide whether or not to uphold the lower-court’s decision to bind over on only two charges.

PRELIMINARY HEARING:  The case became complicated during the preliminary hearing when Jarrin Prokasky, who was allegedly the intended target of both shootings, took the stand and said he had no memory of events from 2006.  He said he did not remember the conflict with Andrews – including allegations of a pursuit where Andrews allegedly chased Prokasky and another friend around town (both Andrews and Prokasky were in their cars).  A witness in Prokasky’s car testified that at one point Andrews shot at the car with Prokasky in it. 

Following the drive-by shooting at the Prokasky home, officers removed the hood of Prokasky’s car, which had a bullet hole, but Andrews’s defense was able to raise doubts about when the bullet hole was made and who made it since no report of the alleged pursuit and shooting was made at the time.

Prokasky’s mother did remember the events of that night and testified during the preliminary hearing.  She discovered evidence of the shooting in her son’s room the next morning when she returned from work as a 911 dispatcher.  She testified her sister was at home at the time of the shooting but was not injured.