A Baltimore County judge on Thursday set aside his “misgivings” about a broad search warrant and will permit at trial evidence collected from the home of a Rodgers Forge couple accused of starving their toddler to death.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Timothy Martin dismissed complaints from attorneys for John and Susan Griffin that a search warrant used to seize items from their home was too generic. The warrant, signed by another county judge, allowed police to search the home for “any and all bloody clothing, any and all bloody items, any and all items that may lead to motive and any and all items that could reveal evidence of negligence.”
Joe Murtha, an attorney representing John Griffin, unsuccessfully argued that overly vague warrants are unconstitutional.
“It allows essentially a rummaging of the house for any and all evidence,” Murtha said. “There is no limit on the number of items to be seized.”
Griffin and his wife, both 38, were taken into custody Dec. 26, 2007, after their 2-year-old son Andrew died at St. Joseph’s Medical Center. The parents told police the couple delayed taking Andrew to the hospital while they discussed caring for their four other children.
An autopsy revealed Andrew died from starvation.
At a hearing Thursday, investigators said they had probable cause to search the home, but weren’t sure exactly what they would find.
“It was immediately apparent when looking at the child, even without a medical degree, there was something seriously wrong,” said Det. Al Barton. “The child was pretty much skin and bone.”
Detectives found blood on clothes, walls and ceilings inside the home and took a computer containing e-mails, assistant’s state’s attorney Robin Coffin said at a hearing last month, when she described the evidence seized as “scant.” At that time, Martin also admitted Susan Griffin’s nine-hour interview with police as evidence.
The couple had another child since their arrests. Their trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 27.
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