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Camden police and Shlawrence Ross have different accounts of what happened on Dec. 3, 2017.
While police say Ross shot at them after being kicked out of an illegal speakeasy, Ross says he had left the party to go to the store and was denied re-entry.
Before he knew it, he was shot at "but he did not know who shot him or why," court documents show.
A grand jury indicted Ross for three counts of first-degree attempted murder and more, in connection with the shootout,
Meanwhile, a bullet from the incident remained lodged in Ross' abdomen, as the treating physician at the time did not remove it.
In 2022, while awaiting trial, Ross had the bullet removed, at the advise of his legal counsel, court documents show. That June, his lawyer asked Cooper Hospital to turn the bullet over to defense counsel’s investigator after the surgery.
After the bullet was removed, it was turned over to Joseph Campbell, the administrative director of security at Cooper Hospital, pursuant to hospital policy.
But Campbell instead alerted police, who said the bullet was tied to an active investigation, court paperwork shows.
"The State subsequently sought a search warrant to obtain the bullet from the hospital," court paperwork reads. "The trial court denied the search warrant application and the State’s application for a subpoena seeking defendant’s medical records regarding the surgery.
"The Appellate Division reversed, holding that the trial court erred in applying discovery rules as opposed to search warrant principles to its analysis of the search warrant application. The Appellate Division remanded the matter for the trial court to determine whether probable cause existed for the issuance of the search warrant."
On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, after a months-long legal battle over the bullet, Supreme Court Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis wrote: "The proper analysis for determining whether the State can obtain this physical evidence rests within the principles of search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment.
"Being that the bullet is physical evidence related to a criminal offense, a search warrant is the proper means for the State to obtain the evidence."
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office said: “We are pleased with the Court’s opinion making clear that the State did follow lawful procedure in its attempt to obtain evidence of criminality via a search warrant.”
Daily Voice reached out to Ross' attorney, Robin Lord of Trenton, who was in court and not immediately available for comment.
Lord told NJ Advance Media that she was disappointed by the ruling, saying it will have a “chilling effect” on defense attorneys seeking to conduct their own investigations.
"No evidence is being ripped from defendant’s hands as Cooper Hospital is in possession of the bullet and the search warrant, if issued, would be served on the hospital, not on defendant," Justices said.
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