LANSING (WKZO AM/FM) — The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that the two separate interviews done with Uber killer Jason Dalton after his murder spree are tainted, and inadmissible because local and state detectives violated his Miranda rights, ignoring his repeated requests for a lawyer, and for the interrogation to end.
Dalton is charged with killing six people and wounding two others in between giving rides to Uber customers in February of 2016.
Kalamazoo Circuit Judge Alexander Lipsey had already tossed out most of the interrogation conducted by local detectives. The Appellate Judges have now tossed out the rest.
Kalamazoo Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting has said repeatedly that he has video and eyewitnesses at each of the crime scenes…and plenty of forensic evidence.
Laurie Smith of Mattawan, who lost a husband and a son that night, says she trusts Getting to make the right decision, she is just anxious to see the matter resolved.
But whether Dalton did the killings may not be the focus of the trial if his attorneys pursue an insanity defense.
Dalton’s state of mind immediately after committing the shootings could be a key to determining whether he was sane at the time of the crimes.
His claims that his mind had been taken over by a demon inside his Uber App are now inadmissible. Instead of being locked into defending that bizarre sounding scenario, the defense will have a clean slate to work with.
Prosecutor Getting says he will review the court’s opinion, consult with Law Enforcement, the victims and their survivors before making a decision whether or not to appeal to have the interrogations reinstated.
He says he will make that announcement at the next status conference for the case, which has not yet been scheduled.
