Judge denies motion to preclude death penalty for accused killer of Coeur d’Alene police officer

A Kootenai County judge on Wednesday denied several defense motions, including another attempt to take the death penalty off the table, in the case against a North Idaho man accused of killing a Coeur d’Alene police officer in May 2015.

First District Judge Lansing Haynes denied the motion by Kootenai County Public Defender John Adams to preclude the death penalty for Jonathan Renfro, who is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Sgt. Greg Moore. Adams based the motion on an argument of insufficient funding for a defense of a capital crime.

Haynes also denied Adams’ motion to suppress police video footage of the shooting and to dismiss several counts of the indictment, including first-degree murder, robbery and concealing evidence, based on lack of evidence presented at Renfro’s preliminary hearing.

Renfro, 27, a Rathdrum resident, was walking late at night in a residential neighborhood in northwest Coeur d’Alene on May 5, 2015, when Moore stopped to question him and check his identification. Renfro allegedly admitted to investigators that he shot the officer because he feared Moore would discover he was carrying a gun in violation of his felony parole.

Haynes previously has denied motions by the public defender’s office that sought to exclude the death penalty from the potential punishments if Renfro is convicted. The trial is set to start Feb. 6, 2017.