Former WWE developmental talent Daniel Rodimer has been denied a petition to dismiss charges of murder. As you may recall, the former wrestler and two-time GOP congressional candidate turned himself after a warrant was issued for him on a murder charge in Las Vegas in March of 2024. The charged was in relation to an incident where Rodimer is accused of attacking a man named Christopher Tapp on October 29th, 2023 that resulted in Tapp's death.
Fightful reports that Rodimer filed a petition to dismiss the charge, arguing that prosecutors used hearsay during grand jury proceedings. They claim that the proceedings took testimony from a witness who alleged that Rodimer's wife told her not to talk to police about what she saw in the incident, and also that a detective gave an opinion on Rodimer's guilt during his testimony to the grand jury.
The appeals court ruled that the testimony was not hearsay and thus admissible, as it made no factual assertions. The ruling further stated that prosecutors were not obligated to tell the grand jury about the witness' drug use, and that the detective's police testimony only covered the investigation and "did not give an opinion as to Rodimer's guilt or even mention Rodimer at all."
Rodimer is alleged to have punched and choked Tapp after Tapp allegedly offered Rodimer's stepdaughter cocaine in a Las Vegas hotel room. Tapp's death was believed to be 'apparent overdose' and a 'fall', but his autopsy showed blunt force trauma to the head and recent cocaine use. He died at Sunrise Hospital on November 5th, 2023.