July 31
KENTUCKY:
Lawyer seeks exclusion of statement -- Man is accused of murdering 2
Isiah Fugett's statement to police that he fatally shot 2 University of
Louisville freshmen during a January drug deal should be excluded from his
murder trial, Fugett's attorney told a Jefferson circuit judge yesterday.
After interviewing him over a 6-hour period Jan. 27, detectives arrested
Fugett without probable cause, his lawyer, Jay Lambert, said.
At the time he was arrested, Fugett had denied shooting Eric Ray, 19, or
Robert Robbins, 18, and police did not have an arrest warrant, Lambert
told Judge Lisabeth Hughes Abramson yesterday. Therefore, anything Fugett
told police after this arrest should be excluded from trial, Lambert said.
Prosecutors say Fugett's interview had given police plenty of reason to
arrest him, including placing him at the shooting scene and telling
investigators different versions of what happened.
Abramson asked both sides to submit written arguments before she makes a
decision. A trial has been scheduled for April 11.
Fugett has pleaded not guilty to 2 counts of murder and 1 count each of
robbery and tampering with physical evidence. Ray and Robbins were fatally
shot late Jan. 26 outside the Clarion Hotel at First and Jefferson
streets.
Fugett could face the possibility of the death penalty on each of the
murder counts, but no decision has been made to pursue capital punishment.
Police testified yesterday that they sought an interview with Fugett
because he was seen with the victims at a nearby gas station before the
shooting.
Detectives said they questioned Fugett for several hours the day after the
murder - but that he was free to go until he was arrested.
During this interview, but before his arrest, Fugett never told police he
shot the teens, but did say he was with another man who did, Louisville
Metro Police Detective Jim Lawson said during yesterday's hearing.
Once he placed himself at the crime scene, and after he changed his story,
police read Fugett his rights and arrested him, Lawson testified.
Later, after his arrest, Fugett told police that he was the one who shot
the teens, but that he did so in self-defense, according to court
documents.
Fugett told police that Ray pulled a shotgun on him, according to a motion
filed by prosecutors in seeking a bench warrant. Fugett also allegedly
told police that he pulled a handgun from Ray's waistband, although a
court record noted that the investigation showed Ray did not have a
handgun.
(source: Louisville Courier-Journal)
