Attorney wants Rams' statements tossed

Source: Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.迷你倉Jan. 18--BARNSTABLE -- John Rams Jr., accused in the 2005 murder of an East Falmouth woman, may have been high on marijuana and may not have voluntarily agreed to speak with police, his attorney, Timothy Flaherty, said Friday.Flaherty was making his closing argument in Barnstable Superior Court at a motions hearing in the case. Flaherty wants seven statements made by Rams to police detectives between 2005 and 2011 tossed out of his coming trial in the murder of Shirley Reine.The hearing was continued from November, when Judge Robert Rufo heard testimony from police detectives and a sheriff's department employee about the interviews in question and whether Rams was properly notified of his rights."It should have been in the mind of (officers) that the defendant had been ingesting drugs that morning," Flaherty said of the morning of Sept. 21, 2005, when Rams was arrested on an unrelated warrant. The driver of the car Rams was riding in at the time of his arrest told police he was smoking pot with Rams earlier that morning, Flaherty said.There was no evidence Rams had smoked marijuana that morning, according to the testimony of officers, Glenny said.Rams entered the courtroom Friday in handcuffs and shackles, wearing a purple shirt, matching tie and black pants. He blew a kiss to his girlfriend and family, gesturing frequently to the apparently new clothing and the scruffy hair on his head. At previous court appearances, Rams had a clean-shaven head.Rufo, who received written briefs from both attorneys Friday morning, took the motion under advisement. He is giving Glenny until the next court date, Jan. 27, to let him know if any further evidence needs to be introduced based on legal arguments made by Flaherty in those documents.After the hearing, Glenny assmini storagered Loretta Gilfoy, Shirley Reine's sister, that the continuance would not delay the March 17 trial. "I think he heard me sigh," Gilfoy said outside the courthouse.Flaherty has raised doubts about whether Rams was given an opportunity to waive his Miranda rights before speaking to police that first morning he was arrested. Documents waiving his rights and the right to have the interview recorded were signed after the interrogations, Flaherty said.Detectives testified in November that Rams verbally agreed to waive those rights.In his closing argument, Glenny gave his theory why Rams didn't want the interview taped. "He doesn't want Todd Reine to know he's talking to police," Glenny said.Todd Reine is the stepson of Shirley Reine. He was embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with her at the time of her slaying. He has long been considered a person of interest in the case, according to court records, but has never been charged.Police spoke to Rams on several occasions about another case -- a 2002 break-in at the Reine residence three years before the murder. By talking to him about the intertwined cases, police violated his Sixth Amendment rights, Flaherty said.The Sixth Amendment is known as the "speedy trial clause," which entitles defendants to a trial without delay. Rams was first interviewed by police in 2005 and was not indicted until 2011.In that separate yet intertwined case, Rams pleaded guilty in 2007 and Todd Reine was convicted and went to state prison for more than four years for his role as the mastermind of that theft.An attempt by Rams to have certain jailhouse recordings removed from the case already has been denied.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) Visit the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) at .capecodonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存