MARYVILLE, Tenn. (Story Courtesy of WVLT) – Kenneth DeHart, the man accused of shooting and killing Blount County Deputy Greg McCowan during a Feb. 8, 2024 traffic stop, appeared in court for his second preliminary hearing Tuesday.
During the hearing, the court denied a motion from DeHart’s attorney asking to throw out all evidence related to the traffic stop that ended in the death of McCowan and the shooting of Deputy Shelby Eggers. The court also denied granting DeHart bail, meaning he will stay in custody as the state pursues the death penalty.
What is DeHart accused of?
The DeHart case began when Eggers stopped him for driving across the double yellow line of Sevierville Road. Eggers has since testified and said in an interview with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that, once he had stopped, she smelled marijuana in DeHart’s car, prompting her to call McCowan for backup and begin investigating the stop as a DUI case.
Specifically, she and McCowan asked DeHart to get out of the car and allow them to search inside, but he refused.
What followed was a five-day-long manhunt for DeHart, who drove away from the scene while Eggers was trying to treat herself and McCowan while waiting for backup.
Why did DeHart get a second preliminary hearing?
DeHart’s original preliminary hearing happened just days after he was taken into custody. At the time, DeHart asked that the hearing be delayed, but the request was denied.
What happened at the preliminary hearing?
During the preliminary hearing, DeHart’s defense attorney — Stephen Ross Johnson — argued that evidence tied to the traffic stop, including the actual shooting of both deputies, should be thrown out of the case. This, because Eggers did not have enough probable cause to escalate the traffic stop, making her and McCowan’s use of force against DeHart unconstitutional.
Each side had Eggers testify what she experienced during the traffic stop. Eggers testified Tuesday that she smelled marijuana in the car DeHart was driving, but Johnson said in her interview with the TBI, Eggers admitted that she only smelled marijuana on her second approach, on the passenger side of the car DeHart was driving.
“She told the TBI, there’s no other way to describe this, she lied about smelling marijuana,” Johnson said.
Johnson argued Tuesday that the request to search was unconstitutional and therefore made the stop unconstitutional under DeHart’s fourth amendment rights; the court didn’t agree.
Ultimately, the court ruled that DeHart’s refusal to get out of the car was what escelated the stop. The motion to dismiss all traffic stop evidence was refused.
Additionally, the court refused to grant DeHart bail and sent the case back to the grand jury.
