His gun comments are out. His clothes are in.
A Howard County Circuit Court judge issued a split decision Thursday, ruling that accused shooter Tion Bell?s statements about using guns were illegally obtained at a police substation and therefore inadmissible.
But Judge Lenore Gelfman also ruled that the clothing police seized from Bell, 18, of Columbia, the night 4-year-old Fahad Islam was shot could be shown to a jury.
“Any references made by the defendant about a firearm or target practice are suppressed,” Gelfman said. ” ? All the clothes and boots, any clothing, is in.”
Bell is accused of attempted first-degree murder in an incident that resulted in the wounding of the 4-year-old boy, who lives with his family in Long Reach in Columbia.
Police said Bell intended to shoot someone else, but missed, causing his bullet to penetrate Islam?s living room window, striking the child in the head.
In the minutes after the Jan. 20 shooting, police brought Bell to the Long Reach police substation, where they interrogated him.
During the questioning, Bell admitted he owned a gun and had fired it within the past two weeks for “target practice,” police said.
But Gelfman ruled that evidence could not go before a jury, because detectives hadn?t read the 18-year-old his Miranda rights, including the right to remain silent.
Bell?s attorney, Joseph Murtha, who successfully suppressed those statements, also argued that police illegally seized Bell?s clothes that night without a warrant.
Gelfman denied that motion, saying police had a right to take the clothes after they arrested Bell.
