LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Boulder City man facing felony drug charges — and still under investigation for murder — has just hit a major setback in court, with the case now headed to trial.
It’s a story I first broke more than a year ago and have been relentlessly pursuing ever since — in exclusive continuing coverage just honored on June 27 with an Emmy award for investigative journalism.
As we've reported, when Boulder City police served a search warrant looking for evidence of a murder, they uncovered an alleged drug operation — leading to a felony indictment.
Since then, the defense has tried every tactic to get the case tossed. Now, it appears the accused man — John Powell (J.P.) Morgan III — will finally face a jury.
Watch | Darcy Spears shares the new update in her ongoing investigation
Scott Dingman's family has been fighting for justice since May 31, 2021 — the night he was gunned down in the street by Morgan. Police initially ruled it self-defense, but the case was reopened after our investigation into alleged negligence, cover-up, and incompetence by Boulder City officers. Court records show a new detective “developed serious concerns that important investigative steps were overlooked/missed throughout the (prior) investigation,” possibly leading “to a false conclusion.”
"Initial investigating officers interviewed defendant — who was the shooter — and he gave several different statements or accounts about what happened," said Judge Erika Mendoza in a June 25 hearing. "The person reporting — initially making the 911 call — said he witnessed the shooter shoot someone in the street, go inside, then return back out with a firearm."
Morgan's lawyer, Louis Schneider, hasn't given up, telling Judge Mendoza in that hearing, "The homicide case is over. It was self-defense."
Except it isn't. It’s still under active investigation by Boulder City police and the Clark County District Attorney. It's also the subject of a recently filed civil lawsuit.
Detectives searching for video evidence from the night Scott was killed found more than 25 grams of cocaine and other signs of drug dealing — charges for which Morgan was indicted.
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Schneider argued the warrant was defective and asked the judge to toss it and the drug charges. She refused, saying "The charges in this case aren't related to what they were originally searching for."
Boulder City police — already accused of errors in the homicide investigation — also used a template in the warrant that included irrelevant language.
"It's a template. It's unprofessional. There's no question about that," said Deputy District Attorney Chase Christensen.
But the judge said it didn't change anything.
"The purpose of this warrant was to recover digital evidence related to a murder investigation, not to recover the drugs and drug paraphernalia that they ultimately found," Mendoza said.
Schneider also asked for Morgan’s guns back. Police seized 40 firearms — handguns and rifles — during the search. While there are no separate weapons charges, Mendoza said, "Defendant's firearms are subject to forfeiture in light of the fact that he had all those drugs in the house."
J.P. Morgan is currently out on $19,000 bail. The drug case is set for trial February 1, 2027.
Watch the original investigation here:
