GREAT BEND – If you have been following the Adam Longoria Capital Murder case at all, then you know there have been tons of motions that were filed prior to the latest preliminary hearing.
Now that he has been bound over for trial, the defense in the case have now started filing pre-trial motions, the latest being filed Tuesday.
The 37-year-old Longoria is accused in the death of a 14-year-old Alicia DeBolt, the Great Bend girl alleged killed with her body then discovered at an asphalt plant where he worked. That was in August of last year.
The defense in the case are now asking that the court hold a pre-trial hearing regarding the admissibility of any hearsay statements or evidence the state intends to introduce at trial.
They claim that discovery materials they received from the prosecution contain hearsay statements that the state may wish to introduce at trial. They worry that should those statements be made in court in front of the jury, any admonition to the jury to ignore those statements would be to late. It would be impossible to “unring the bell,” using the defense terminology.
They further argue that any hearsay statements are inadmissible unless they meet the statutory exception to the hearsay rules. They say the state has the burden of proof to show any statements could be an exception to that rule.
They want a pre-trial hearing on these issues, so the state can show that any hearsay statements meet the exception to the hearsay rule.
They also want the court to order the state to present them with a list of all the exhibits they intend to use at trial, and want the judge to have the state present them with this list no later then 30-days prior to jury selection.
When these motions will be heard is not known, but look for more pre-trial motions to be filed in the coming months.
No trial date has been set in the case, and although Longoria is charged with Capital Murder, the state has already indicated they will not seek the death penalty. That means if he’s convicted, he would receive life in prison with no chance for parole.