Defendant blames shooting death of grandmother on bad reaction to antibiotic
A motion to dismiss first-degree murder and related charges against Anthony David Mercado, the young man accused of last February’s shooting death of his grandmother at their Cape Charles home, was denied Monday in Northampton Circuit Court.
Defense lawyer Patrick Bales claimed 25-year-old Mercado was denied due process as officers did not take him to a hospital or arrange for a blood test after his arrest, despite that one officer repeatedly said the defendant appeared to be “higher than heck” by drugs and that Mercado had told them he was taking “an antibiotic for rat poison.”…