JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A legal defense attorney tells Channel 4 surveillance video of the arrest and 911 calls will be key points in the upcoming Matthew Hinson trial.
Hinson has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of William Pettry.
"Several things are very interesting," said defense lawyer Gene Nichols. "The first one is that we have video tape of this man being arrested while in the parking lot at The Landing."
Nichols talked to Channel 4's Kent Justice through some of the latest evidence released in the state's case against Hinson.
There are a lot of surveillance cameras with different angles and shots. That includes when police officers pulled Hinson from his car and appear to strike him.
Nichols said that will probably not be an issue in court.
Police say they saw a knife fall out of Hinson's truck and that he had blood on him.
Each arresting officer said Hinson didn't cooperate with them.
"Now, there is nothing of interest to note based upon how the Sheriff's Office took him down. We knew that we had a man who was suspected to commit a murder in Fionn MacCool's," said Nichols. "He was still in the parking lot. He was observed from Finn MacCool's all the way to the parking lot."
Nichols said, in his view, the 911 callers who phoned police immediately, from inside the bar and then followed Hinson to the parking lot, will be crucial witnesses.
Nichols also said what they did was risky and perhaps the key to the case.
"Where that benefits the state is we have eye witness testimony that goes all the way from Fionn MacCool's, all the way into the parking lot until this individual gets taken down," said Nichols. "So when it comes to whether or not this was the person who committed the crime, there is no break between when the incident happened and when he was seen and when he was arrested."