COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Attorneys for a former Columbus police officer found guilty for the murder of Andre Hill in 2020 are seeking a new trial.

Adam Coy’s defense council filed a motion for a new trial, which was heard Monday in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, after they said the prosecution withheld key evidence they believe would have, not only changed their approach during trial, but changed the outcome of the trial itself and exonerating their client.

The hearing stems from a November motion which claims Deputy Chief Counsel Anthony Pierson and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Renee Hamlin did not disclose an expert witness to the defense, violating Coy’s right to a fair trial.

Coy was scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Stephen McIntosh on Nov. 25, but that hearing was postponed after the motion was filed for a new trial. Coy is facing a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

On Nov. 5, a Franklin County jury convicted Coy, 48, of murder, reckless homicide and felonious assault for shooting Andre Hill, an unarmed 47-year-old, in 2020. The decision was made after a two-week trial after approximately 12 hours of deliberations.

Hill was killed on Dec. 22, 2020, at about 1:50 a.m., when Coy shot him four times while responding to a nonemergency suspicious vehicle call on Columbus’ northwest side.

Coy fired at Hill after he began exiting a garage at Coy’s request, with a lit phone screen held up in his left hand and his right hand at his side, not clearly visible due to a parked car. Coy testified he believed Hill had a silver revolver in his right hand, which ended up being a set of keys.

In court Monday, defense attorney Kaitlyn Stephens suggested the state intentionally withheld evidence, while lead counsel Mark Collins said they did not know why the evidence was withheld, and that it should not have been.

“It’s just happenstance that we came in contact with it,” Collins said. “He was at a convention for expert opinions, and our experts were there, and he ran into one of ours and said, ‘I can’t believe that verdict. I gave an opinion that it was a good shooting.’ So, that’s how we found out in the first place.”

A new court date has been scheduled for April 14, when it is expected prosecuting attorney Adam Pierson will testify.