According to the Citizens' Voice... Joseph Kerekes asked to speak with an attorney shortly after his arrest in May 2007 for the murder of Bryan Kocis in Dallas Township four months earlier, but police ignored the request and pressed ahead with an interrogation, Kerekes’ court-appointed attorneys said Wednesday.
The attorneys filed a brief reiterating their position that statements made by Kerekes in the interview be excluded from use at his trial, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 2.
Kerekes, 34, and Harlow Cuadra, 26, both of Virginia Beach, Va., are accused of killing Kocis, 46, in January 2007.
They are accused of slashing Kocis’ neck to the point of near decapitation, stabbing his torso nearly 30 times and later setting fire to his Midland Drive, Dallas Township, home. They both face the death penalty.
Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. is scheduled to hear arguments on the suppression of evidence in the case beginning at 8:30 a.m. today.
Virginia Beach Police arrested Kerekes and transported him to the department’s headquarters. Investigators from Pennsylvania met Kerekes in an interview room, Kerekes’ attorneys said.
Kerekes asked for an attorney, but the investigators continued to ask questions about his employment history, military history, personal relationships and other background, the attorneys said.
“Pennsylvania authorities engaged in the functional equivalent of interrogation when they read the affidavit of probable cause to him and confronted him with third party statements, setting up a situation they should have known would likely elicit a response,” the attorneys argued.
The attorneys filed a brief reiterating their position that statements made by Kerekes in the interview be excluded from use at his trial, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 2.
Kerekes, 34, and Harlow Cuadra, 26, both of Virginia Beach, Va., are accused of killing Kocis, 46, in January 2007.
They are accused of slashing Kocis’ neck to the point of near decapitation, stabbing his torso nearly 30 times and later setting fire to his Midland Drive, Dallas Township, home. They both face the death penalty.
Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. is scheduled to hear arguments on the suppression of evidence in the case beginning at 8:30 a.m. today.
Virginia Beach Police arrested Kerekes and transported him to the department’s headquarters. Investigators from Pennsylvania met Kerekes in an interview room, Kerekes’ attorneys said.
Kerekes asked for an attorney, but the investigators continued to ask questions about his employment history, military history, personal relationships and other background, the attorneys said.
“Pennsylvania authorities engaged in the functional equivalent of interrogation when they read the affidavit of probable cause to him and confronted him with third party statements, setting up a situation they should have known would likely elicit a response,” the attorneys argued.
