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Showdown set over testimony

By JOHN FRANK
Published December 20, 2006

INVERNESS - Attorneys in the case of the man charged with killing Jessica Lunsford gathered Tuesday to schedule the final hearings before the February trial.

John Couey, 48, is charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering the 9-year-old Homosassa girl in February 2005. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Feb. 12 in Miami.

Defense attorneys for Couey have until noon Friday to file an expected motion that will ask the judge to ban the testimony of two Orlando police officers who reported that Couey made incriminating statements to them in a jailhouse interview shortly after his arrest.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard said he will hear arguments about the testimony on Jan. 5 at the Citrus County Courthouse in what is expected to be a long, painstaking hearing.

On March 31, 2005, shortly after his arrest in the Lunsford case, Couey was interviewed by two Orlando Police Department investigators about an unrelated case.

After being asked whether he killed a missing Orlando girl, Couey said: "If I done it, I would tell you. They can only kill me once."

Couey faces the death penalty in the Lunsford case.

Then, the investigators said, Couey blurted out: "I don't know why I did this, but I did. I ain't never done anything like this before. This is the first time I ever done something stupid like this."

In a deposition, the investigators said they assumed he was referring to Jessica's death because that was why he was in jail, even though Couey made no mention of the case.

The detectives didn't come forward with the statement until July 13, when their supervisor informed them that Couey's initial confession to Citrus County detectives was ruled inadmissible.

Howard threw out that confession after ruling that Citrus County sheriff's deputies denied Couey access to a lawyer after he repeatedly requested one.

[Last modified December 20, 2006, 02:32:48]