Newport Beach : Man Pleads Innocent in Freeway Shooting

Albert Carroll Morgan of Santa Ana pleaded innocent Monday to the July 18 freeway shooting of a 28-year-old man near the Orange County fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Morgan, a 32-year-old roofer, was arraigned before Judge Selim S. Franklin in Harbor Municipal Court on charges of attempted murder, assault with a firearm and shooting at a motor vehicle with people in it.

A cleanshaven Morgan, who appeared in court in a mustard-colored jail-issue jump suit, held both hands over his face to shield himself from photographers. He is being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. No date for a preliminary hearing was set.

The victim, Paul Gary Nussbaum of Rolling Hills Estates, remained in serious but stable condition Monday at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said. Nussbaum, who was shot once in the neck, was left paralyzed from the neck to the waist.

The shooting occurred in converging traffic on the southbound Costa Mesa Freeway near the Orange County Fairgrounds as the men apparently jockeyed for the right of way in an evening traffic jam during the two-week run of the fair.

Morgan was arrested a short time later while entering the fairgrounds with his 28-year-old wife, Lonnie Joy Morgan, who was initially arrested but later released.