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CLEARWATER - An appellate court has upheld a judge's decision to suppress most of the evidence against a former pharmacist accused of murder.
Vasilios Katogiritis, 39, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Oct. 15, 2000, drug overdose death of a friend, 23-year-old Christina Hurst.
Katogiritis found Hurst unresponsive in his apartment that morning, then called 911. When police arrived, they found a syringe and more than 500 pills in the apartment.
Sometime during that search, police heard from the hospital that Hurst was dead. Katogiritis then admitted he gave Hurst morphine the night before.
Under state law, anyone who provides drugs to someone who suffers a fatal overdose can be charged with murder. But Judge Linda R. Allan suppressed much of the evidence last summer, agreeing with defense attorney George Tragos' argument that police had neither a warrant nor Katogiritis' permission before searching his apartment.
Statements Katogiritis made after the pills were found were tossed out. Prosecutors took the case to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, but the judges agreed with Allan.
Prosecutor Bill Loughery said his office has not decided whether to appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. If prosecutors don't appeal, the murder case against Katogiritis - along with several drug charges - probably will be dropped.
"I don't know how they can proceed without this evidence," Tragos said. Katogiritis, who is out of jail on $30,000 bail, has lost his pharmacy license.