TAMPA, Fla. (Court TV) — Florida prosecutors were dealt a blow when a judge ruled that they will not be allowed to use a defendant’s text messages against her.
Brianna Moore is facing multiple charges after she allegedly killed her newborn baby shortly after delivery. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
Brianna Moore is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect in the death of her newborn daughter, who was found dead in a trash can inside her dorm room at the University of Tampa in 2024. Moore, now 20, denied being pregnant and told officers that the blood visible in the bathroom was from her period.
Prosecutors had intended to use text messages between Moore and someone labeled in her phone as ‘qasim’ as part of their case that they say showed Moore’s intent to kill her child.
qasim: “plan A was condoms
plan b was the pill
Plan c was to kill thr [sic] kid”
Defendant: “plan c is my favorite”
In a new order, Judge Thomas Palermo ruled the messages inadmissible in the State’s case-in-chief, finding them inadmissible character evidence. The messages were dated Sept. 13, 2023, when Moore would have been, at most, four weeks pregnant. Judge Palermo found there was no indication Moore knew she was pregnant when she had the conversation and that the messages don’t detail any specific plan or intent.
“It does not even express that Defendant would consider this course of action if she ever became pregnant,” Judge Palermo wrote in his order. “Its only relevant purpose is to how that Defendant ‘is the sort of person who would’ kill a newborn child.”
Judge Palermo did leave open the possibility the messages could come before the jury, if Moore’s defense opens the door during its case-in-chief. If that should happen, prosecutors will have to seek permission outside the presence of the jury prior to introducing the messages.
Moore’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 30. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
