Pittsburg: Convicted cop murderer loses bid for freedom

"PITTSBURG A judge has denied a Pittsburg man's request to transfer his murder case from adult to juvenile court, which would have meant release from prison for one of the two men convicted of murdering police officer Larry Lasater. Andrew Moffett, 38, was days away from his 18th birthday when he and co-defendant Alexander Rashad Hamilton, 38, planned and carried out a robbery that resulted in Hamilton shooting Lasater in the neck."

"In a 24-page ruling Judge Barbara Hinton wrote that while Moffett may have had untreated ADHD at the time of the murder, he demonstrated through planning the robbery a capacity to understand and appreciate the risks he was taking, een though he may not have factored in that someone would lose their life as a consequence of the robbery. Andrew M. laid out multiple stages of the armed robbery such as: obtaining the getaway vehicle, enlisting a co-responsible, furnishing loaded firearms, surveying the parking lot, taking efforts to avoid identification, strewing various inculpatory objects in different locations, etc., Hinton wrote."

"Hinton lauded Moffett's efforts to seek higher education and that he's stayed out of trouble for the last several years in prison, but also seemed skeptical of two doctors who testified for the defense. The medical experts seemed unwilling to accept the idea that Moffett would lie during interviews to get himself out of a life sentence, and took Moffett's statements at face value without probing much deeper into (their) veracity, she wrote."

Judge Barbara Hinton denied transfer of Andrew Moffett's murder case to juvenile court and found that Moffett showed capacity to understand and appreciate the risks involved despite possible untreated ADHD. The decision emphasized detailed planning of the armed robbery, including obtaining a getaway vehicle, enlisting a co-responsible, supplying firearms, scouting the parking lot, and efforts to avoid identification. The judge noted Moffett's pursuit of education and clean prison record but expressed skepticism about defense doctors who accepted his statements without deeper verification. The robbery led to Officer Larry Lasater's death; Moffett received life without parole and Alexander Hamilton received a death sentence.

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