Carruth's Lawyer Seek Evidence

Monday, May 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) â€” Lawyers for former NFL player Rae Carruth and three co-defendants sought more evidence in their murder case Monday, contending prosecutors are causing delays.

The lawyers urged a judge to order the prosecution to turn over the additional evidence, including the autopsy report on Cherica Adams, Carruth's former girlfriend and the mother of his infant son.

Jim Gronquist, who represents co-defendant Stanley Abraham, asked the judge to order the state to turn over all of its evidence in 14 days. Instead, Judge Jerry Braswell ordered lawyers and prosecutors to return to court on May 30 to discuss progress in the case.

Carruth, a former wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, and the other defendants are charged with murder in Adams' drive-by shooting death. They were not in court Monday.

Adams, 24, was 6 1/2 months' pregnant when she was shot four times on Nov. 16. She gave birth to Chancellor Lee Adams just after the shooting and died a month later.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against all four men, who are being held without bail.

Outside the courtroom, Carruth's lawyer, David Rudolf, said he could not prepare a defense until the discovery process was complete.

``We cannot proceed with our defense until we have all the evidence,'' he said.

Prosecutors told Braswell that more than 2,000 pages of evidence had been turned over to the defense. However, they said they were awaiting the autopsy report and results of forensic tests on a handgun that might be connected to the case.

Rudolf said he was optimistic the case could go to trial this year if the pretrial proceedings move quickly.

``We are going to be pushing for a trial this year,'' he said.