Defense to challenge judge's decision to reject modification of bond in Randolph (West Virginia) homicide

Wilmoth will ask the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute for appointment of a different special prosecutor.

Wilmoth also denied a motion by defense attorney Ryan Donovan for a signature bond.

Donovan indicated a decision to challenge the bond ruling was prompted by additional language Hinkle filed in his motion to be disqualified due to a prior friendship with the defendant’s expert witness.

“The Special Prosecuting Attorney does not believe that requiring the Defendant to stand trial in this case is appropriate under the facts of this case and would result in a manifest injustice,” Hinkle wrote to Wilmoth.

“There is no evidence to support that the Defendant was the aggressor and it is undisputed that he was standing in his own driveway next to his house,” Hinkle wrote.

“The facts are also undisputed that the alleged victim was the initial aggressor, who then left the property only to then return in a manner in which any reasonable person would consider threatening and potentially imminently capable of at least causing serious bodily injury,” Hinkle wrote.

Some of the facts the Special Prosecuting [Attorney] has relied on in reaching this decision were obtained from the Defendant’s expert, which make it difficult to overcome at least the appearance of impropriety given the seriousness of the case,” Hinkle wrote.

Donovan told WV News “it’s obviously an extraordinary circumstance when a prosecutor, having reviewed all the evidence in a case, takes the position requiring the defendant to stand trial ‘would result in a manifest injustice.’

“While we disagree that the special prosecutor’s long-dormant friendship with one of the defendant’s witnesses creates a conflict, we have the utmost respect for Special Prosecutor Bryan Hinkle’s professionalism and candor, and understand why he would feel compelled to step aside,” said Donovan, who has James Hawkins Jr. as co-counsel.

“We do not intend to challenge that decision at this stage, and can only hope that the new special prosecutor will follow up on Mr. Hinkle’s commitment to seeking dismissal of the indictment,” Donovan said.

“On the other hand, we believe the court’s decision to keep Mr. Cross incarcerated on a $2 million cash-only bond — after the State of West Virginia has presented undisputed evidence of innocence and taken the position that Mr. Cross should not be prosecuted — results in a clear violation of Mr. Cross’s rights, and we intend to seek immediate review of that decision.”

Cross has been jailed since the day he was arrested, or nearly 13 months. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and use or presentation of a firearm during commission of a felony, and is presumed innocent.

Cross’ trial is set for early this May, but is likely to be continued due to the appointment of another special prosecutor.

Cross is charged in the March 27, 2023, homicide of Jonathan Chenoweth, 48, of Elkins.

Law enforcement has alleged Cross fired multiple times into a utility terrain vehicle, mortally wounding Chenoweth.

Hinkle’s filing asserts law enforcement didn’t perform a trajectory analysis for the bullet holes in the vehicle “for unknown reasons” and that he “immediately made arrangements” for testing to be done by State Police lab experts in Kanawha County.

Hinkle wrote that he received a lab analysis April 8 that corroborated “the defendant’s, and his wife’s, version of events and also statements made by eyewitnesses to the shooting ... It now appears that some of the first few shots fired by the defendant in this case were fired directly from the front of the ATV.”

“This corroborated statements that the defendant was moving from directly in front of the ATV to the side and away from the front of the ATV, which was reported to be closing in and moving quickly in his direction,” Hinkle wrote.

“The ATV ultimately stopped moving and came to rest in the area where the defendant had been reported to have been standing,” Hinkle wrote.

The confrontation purportedly started over Cross’ shooting of a Chenoweth family dog. Donovan says the shooting of the animal was justified under West Virginia Code §19-20-16, which involves killing of a dog that is “chasing, worrying, wounding or killing” livestock.