Posted on 06/30/2006 8:52:09 AM PDT by fso301
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The confession of a man charged with kidnapping, raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford isn't admissible in court, but the discovery of her body can be used as evidence, a judge ruled Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
Why would the dicovery of her body be admissable? We don't even know if she's dead.
The law is an ASS? Justice reported missing...Welcome to the world of lawyers.........
My sentiments exactly. I personally have had enough of this bullsh*t. I have daughters who are exposed to worms like this and to place the interests of these animals above human beings is not justice it is a perversion. As you say, words can't express my disbelief.
???? Her body was found buried close to the trailer where this slimeball was staying.
POSTED: 9:39 am EDT June 30, 2006 UPDATED: 10:23 am EDT June 30, 2006
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The confession of a man charged with kidnapping, raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford isn't admissible in court, but the discovery of her body can be used as evidence, a judge ruled Friday.
* Survey: Agree With Judge's Decision?
John Evander Couey, a 47-year-old convicted sex offender, gave the confession to detectives, but also told them that he wanted to consult a lawyer. He wasn't given the opportunity to do so.
"This is a material and a profound violation of one of the most bedrock principles of criminal law," Circuit Judge Ric Howard said in issuing the ruling Friday.
Jessica was found kneeling and clutching a stuffed animal, hands tied with speaker wire and fingers poking through the garbage bags in which she was buried alive in February 2005. Two days earlier, Couey told detectives he had kidnapped, raped and killed the girl, and he told them where to find the body.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Couey, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, burglary, kidnapping and sexual battery. Jury selection for his trial is expected to start July 10.
Couey and Jessica both lived in the Homosassa area. After Jessica disappeared, Couey fled the area as the search for the missing girl zeroed in on registered sex offenders in the area.
He was arrested in Georgia on an unrelated Florida warrant, and gave the confession in an Augusta, Ga., sheriff's office to two detectives who traveled from Florida to interview him.
On the taped interview, parts of which were played in court, Couey spoke freely with the detectives about his criminal past, use of crack and relationship with his family. When the topic crept closer to Lunsford, however, Couey repeatedly mentioned wanting a lawyer.
Detectives Scott Grace and Gary Atchison have testified that Couey's mention of a lawyer came directly after Grace mentioned a polygraph test. They weren't sure if he wanted a lawyer immediately or for a later polygraph test, so they kept questioning after Couey said he would talk about "some things," Atchison testified.
Defense attorney Dan Lewan has portrayed the detectives as overzealous and unconcerned about Couey's constitutional rights. When his client asked for an attorney, Lewan argued, the detectives spoke over him in a confusing interlude before simply dropping the issue.
Lewan also asked the discovery of Jessica's body be inadmissible in court because Couey told authorities where to find her.
Prosecutor Ric Ridgway has said investigators would have found Jessica's body anyway.
A consent search at the mobile home where Couey was living turned up a bloody mattress which tested positive for Jessica's DNA the day they began excavating at the mobile home following the confession. Further, disturbed ground near a shovel in the yard was suspicious enough to investigate after officers had already singled Couey out as a person of interest, Ridgway said.
"With (DNA results) they would've gotten a search warrant for the home," Ridgway said.
Couey confessed to taking her from her house to the mobile home he was living in about 150 yards away, sexually assaulting and then burying the girl. Jessica had been missing for nearly a month after investigators found her body in the yard.
The case sparked new laws that dramatically stiffened penalties for some sex offenders who target children, requiring lifetime electronic monitoring for others.
You need to read up on this story. She's dead - her body was found not far from her home. She had been raped, stuffed into a trash bag and buried alive by this monster, for whom the media down here has been crusading ever since he was arrested. I'm sure all of them, but especially the St. Petersburg Times, are trading high-fives around the newsroom while they figure out their next move in dismantling the prosecution.
not only was her body found, her fingers were poking through the bags she was buried in, since the slimeball buried her alive.
However, this piece of human debris asked for a lawyer several times, and the cops continued to question him. They have her body and her dna in his house. He will be convicted.
Obscene. I have other words, but not for public sharing.
Sorry - this was completely the cops' fault. What idiot doesn't know that a suspect being interrogated has a right to a lawyer?
And Sandra Day O'conner is upset that we excoriate judges?
This guy should be publicly stoned.
Sorry back at ya, but you and everyone who thinks this, is wrong. The Miranda warnings are all they need to take a confession. The part that says "If you do not choose to remain silent all you say can and will be used against you" is all they need. If you want a lawyer and don't want to talk until you get one, you keep your mouth shut after asking for a lawyer. If you talk and make a confession without waiting for a lawyer, even though you asked for one, you have given up the right to remain silent and therefore these cops can use this confession.
This judge is WRONG, and should be thrown off the bench.
If this ruling stands then I guess we need to change the miranda to "anything you say doesn't mean shit and we can't use it against you".
Is it possible the officers were hoping that she was still alive and if they got the information out of this piece of trash that they would recover a living girl rather than her body?
Since his confession got thrown out anyway, I really wish the officers had beaten it out of him.
The detectives knew the rules. The court did the right thing, you have the right to have an attorney present DURING QUESTIONING. This isn't to protect the rights of child murderers but to protect your rights, to prevent the slippery slope to the point that the third degree becomes the norm, as it is in so many places. To prevent the slide to continuing questioning without an attormey for a couple of more hours, to a couple of more days, to shut your mouth about rights unless you want to join him in a cell.
What a slap in the face for Jessica's father and grandparents.
I will never forgive myself for so strongly believing someone in her house did it. I was just so sure....that will haunt me forever.
Maybe that is why I am more saddened than angry right now. There is anger, believe me. But right now all I feel is saddness.
This is not the first time a ruling like this has been made. Your interpretation of Miranda rights is not the common one nor the one that the courts are using. Again, it's common knowledge that an interrogation stops at the point when a suspect asks to see a lawyer before continuing on. It's nos like this is setting a precedent - confessions have been stricken many times before for this same reason. There's no reason the cops should have let him be interrogated by officers who don't know the law. This decision will be upheld, despite the heinousness of the crime he was accused of.
What the courts interpret is not always correct. If the miranda is wrong they should change the wording, personally I think the miranda means what it says, and have known a few people who were convicted of crimes because of what they said before the lawyer showed up, even though they asked for one before they started talking.It wasn't common knowledge with the officers in those cases to stop interrogating. The courts are not consistant with their rulings on Miranda and that should be changed.
Also, the police in this instance thought the little girl was still alive and were trying to beat the clock, even though they didn't get to her in time,it was worth a try. You do know she was buried alive?
You should be congnizant of all the facts before you start slaming our Leos, although I do a good job of slamming them sometimes myself when I do I make sure I know all the facts.
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