Lawyer asks judge to suppress evidence in shooting case

Today, a Howard County Circuit Court judge is expected to rule on whether evidence against the accused shooter will be admissible at trial.

In court Wednesday, attorney Joseph Murtha, who represents 18-year-old Tion Bell, argued that several key pieces of police evidence were obtained illegally during an improperly conducted investigation.

Bell is accused of attempted first-degree murder in the wounding of 4-year-old Fahad Islam, who lives with his family in Long Reach in Columbia.

Police said Bell intended to shoot someone else, but missed, and accidentally shot Islam.

But Bell?s family and friends said the police too hastily charged him with the crime, claiming he is the victim of police harassment.

“I always say if you did something, you should admit it,” Bell?s father, Robert, told The Examiner. ?”But if you didn?t do something, the police shouldn?t lock you up.”

In the hours after the shooting, police questioned Bell without ever advising him of his Miranda rights, Murtha said.

Police also confiscated Bell?s clothes without a proper warrant, he said.

Any evidence gained from either the interrogation or the clothing should therefore be inadmissible, Murtha said.

Prosecutors are objecting to those motions, saying Bell freely gave information to police.

“Mr. Bell is an avid talker,” Howard County Detective Vickie Shaffer testified.

But Bell testified that he felt intimidated by the police and asked to leave the police office.

Bell, who has a 10th-grade education, said he rejected signing a statement of his Miranda rights because he doesn?t trust police, didn?t know what the paper contained and had been advised by an attorney not to sign anything.

Fahad eventually recovered from his wound at Johns Hopkins Children?s Hospital and returned home.

The shooting caused an uproar among Long Reach residents, resulting in police holding a community meeting and neighbors calling for increased security.

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