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Couey's statements on trial first

By JOHN FRANK
Published January 6, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: M. N. Golden] John Couey is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in February 2005. His trial is set to begin Feb. 12 in Miami.

INVERNESS - Circuit Judge Ric Howard is expected to rule Monday morning on whether prosecutors can tell a jury about incriminating statements John Couey made to Orlando detectives about the death of Jessica Lunsford.

Attorneys battled for an hour during a hearing Friday, offering conflicting legal precedents to support their assertions.

The defense team argues that Couey invoked his right to remain silent long before speaking to the Orlando detectives. Prosecutors said the statements were made voluntarily to questions about an unrelated 1985 Orlando murder.

The judge reserved his ruling so he could review relevant legal cases referenced at the hearing.

Howard listened closely and questioned the two Orlando detectives as well as the attorneys. The judge reserved some of his most pressing inquiries for prosecutors, seemingly agreeing with major components of the defense argument.

Couey is charged with kidnapping, raping and murdering 9-year-old Jessica in February 2005. His trial is scheduled to start Feb. 12 in Miami. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

The value of the statements at trial is debatable. Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said he never wants to lose evidence. But then again, prosecutors didn't have these statements last summer when Couey's case was last set for trial.

The statements were first reported by the Orlando detectives on July 13, the final day of a failed attempt to seat a jury in Lake County and only after their sergeant told them Couey's initial confession had been tossed out.

Ridgway said the most recent statements, made March 31, 2005, are clearly not as crucial as the inadmissible confession Couey gave Citrus County detectives the night of his arrest in Georgia.

"Obviously, the recorded statement to Citrus County, where he described how he did it, where he put it and all the detail, was more significant," he said.

Still, if Howard strikes the testimony, it would be another major victory for the defense.

Assistant Public Defender Daniel Lewan argued Friday that court papers sent to prosecutors, the Sheriff's Office and the jail clearly invoked Couey's right to an attorney and his right to remain silent.

He presented case law that he believes demonstrates it was an improper interrogation - even though the Orlando detectives weren't told that Couey had previously invoked his rights.

Howard explicitly questioned the prosecutors on this matter after Lewan elicited testimony from Detective Julius Glen Gause Jr., and Joel Wright that they understood conversations with defendants are off limits after they get an attorney.

"I don't know what more Mr. Lewan could have done to keep his client quiet, besides sitting in the jail cell with him," Howard said.

Howard also found important the defense argument that the similarities between the 1985 homicide of a young Orlando girl and the Lunsford case would reasonably be expected to elicit an incriminating response.

Assistant State Attorney Peter Magrino said the criminal acts in the two cases had no relation, and state law does not require the detectives to ask whether Couey had legal representation. He stood by two separate state Supreme Court cases that he said supported the argument that Couey's statements should be allowed at trial.

Unlike recent hearings, Friday's took on a heightened sense of interest from court watchers and the media as the Feb. 12 trial in Miami draws closer. Jessica's grandfather, Archie Lunsford, joined numerous sheriff's detectives, lawyers and others in the courtroom. Also, about a half dozen TV cameras from throughout the area recorded the action.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified January 5, 2007, 19:47:17]