A man convicted of a 2010 murder claimed Monday that he made a confession after being beaten by a detective and held for over 13 hours while handcuffed behind his back.
Unjolee Moore also said he had ineffective assistance of counsel.
His current lawyer, Daniel Murphy, said he was able to obtain a jail medical record showing he had lacerations around the hands and swelling at the left eye after the encounter with former Detective Michael Wenger and another officer.
Moore is asking Judge Don Poole to grant him a new trial.
Attorney Murphy said phone records show that Moore could not have been at the murder scene.
Prosecutor Cameron Williams noted that a female that Moore was with said he had a gun when he left driving her Nissan Maxima.
He said a Maxima was seen at the British Woods Apartments where Bernard Hughes was killed and Timothy Westfield was left for dead.
The group Concerned Citizens for Justice has taken up Moore's cause and issued this statement:
The family of Bernard Hughes and Timothy Westfield deserve justice. The prosecution and conviction of Unjolee Moore, resulting in a life sentence, was and is not justice. Convicted on four charges- Felony Murder, Attempted Especially Aggravated Robbery, Attempted Second Degree Murder, and Employing a Firearm During a Dangerous Felony- Moore was prosecuted and convicted without any DNA or other scientific and forensic evidence; without adequate legal defense; with conflicting eyewitness testimony, none of which placed him at the scene of the crime; and with police misconduct during the investigation.
Having already served nearly five years of a sentence where he will not be eligible for parole until 2069, Concerned Citizens for Justice (CCJ) supports his bid for a new trial. Moore appeared before Judge Poole in Hamilton County, TN Criminal Court on Thursday April 23, 2015 where his motion for a new trial was denied. The case now goes to the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals where his attorney will file an appeal.