CONWAY -- A court should prohibit the state from trying to elicit information from a 14-year-old boy charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of a Conway couple who raised him, a public defender said in a newly filed document.
Justin Staton of Conway and Hunter Drexler, 17, of Clinton are charged with two counts each of capital murder and other felony offenses in the July 21 slayings of Robert and Patricia Cogdell, both 66.
The couple had been Staton's permanent legal guardians since 2010, when he still thought they were his paternal grandparents despite genetic testing in 2008 that proved otherwise.
In one of several motions filed Monday in Faulkner County Circuit Court and placed online Tuesday, Justin's public defender, Gina Reynolds, wrote, "Defendant moves this Court to enter an expedited order prohibiting the State from using any covert or overt tactics to elicit information from Defendant and, thereby, subverting the rights guaranteed" under the U.S. and Arkansas constitutions.
Reynolds noted Justin's age and the fact that he could face a life sentence in prison if he is convicted.
She also said the court should prohibit the state, or any of its agents, "from attempting to elicit information, evidence or statements from Defendant by double-celling or other means."
Double-celling refers to a practice in which two inmates must share a cell made for one person for months or even years, according to the website of the Correctional Association of New York.
A police affidavit released last week referred to statements Justin and others have made to police.
Little Rock attorney Patrick Benca represents Drexler, who is to be arraigned Friday.
Both teenagers remain jailed without bail.
In another motion, Reynolds asked the court to direct that Staton not appear in court unless he is dressed in civilian clothing and is not wearing restraints.
She cited a provision of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure: "Defendants and witnesses shall not be subjected to physical restraint while in court unless the trial judge has found such restraint reasonably necessary to maintain order."
"Great prejudice would result to the defendant should he be viewed by any juror at any time or in any place without civilian clothing and with restraints," Reynolds wrote.
Drexler and two other Arkansas teenagers, Conner Atchley and Anastasia Rose Roberts, both 17, were arrested in Texas early July 23 on misdemeanor charges and later returned to Arkansas where they have been held on juvenile-related matters. Staton was arrested July 22 at the Conway home of his mother and grandfather.
Neither Roberts nor Atchley has been charged in the murder case. Texas authorities have described all three as "persons of interest" in the Cogdells' deaths.
Asked about the motions, Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said, "As with any motion, we'll respond in writing at the proper time."
State Desk on 08/12/2015