Judge Tosses Homicide Confession

A central Pennsylvania prosecutor is appealing a judge's ruling tossing out an alleged confession in a homicide case because it wasn't handed over to defense attorneys promptly.
 
Lycoming County Judge Nancy Butts last month barred the testimony concerning one of the two defendants in the July 2012 murder of 23-year-old Kevan Connelly in a Williamsport park.
 
Butts said the commonwealth "has willfully failed to correct the faulty discovery process that now appears to have plagued every homicide case in this county.''
 
District Attorney Eric Linhart said the statement was misfiled and the judge "appears to have a misconception" of how his office operates. He says the ruling "substantially handicaps" prosecution of the case.
 
Butts said it doesn't because there's another admissible confession and there were numerous eyewitnesses to the slaying.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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