AUBURN – A Lewiston man charged with murder in the June stabbing of a local man says a police search of him, his car and home were illegal and any evidence from those searches should be kept from a jury at trial.
Any statements Ryan Muncey, 28, made to law enforcement authorities were in violation of his constitutional rights and should be suppressed also, he said in a motion filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
A hearing has been scheduled at the end of the month on Muncey’s motions.
Information gathered by police before applying for a search warrant was “intentionally misrepresented” in the search warrant application, Muncey’s attorney, Henry Griffin, wrote in his suppression motion.
Among the items taken from Muncey’s 4 Drew St. home were:
• Three gray T-shirts.
• 10 12-gauge shotgun shells.
• 14 .30-30 caliber Winchester shells.
• Brass knuckles.
• Swab from paint can.
• Hair clippings from bathroom sink.
• Hair clippings from trash can in bathroom.
Muncey’s “mental and physical condition” kept him from giving police a voluntary statement, in violation of his constitutional rights, Griffin wrote.
Police questioned Muncey after he had asked to speak to a lawyer, a violation of the Sixth Amendment, Griffin also wrote.
Prosecutors in the case filed a motion seeking a forensic evaluation of Muncey to determine his mental condition affecting his competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, abnormal condition of mind “or any other issue involving his mental or emotional condition,” Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea wrote.
Justice Joyce Wheeler ordered the so-called Stage II examination.
Zainea also filed a motion seeking the names of any expert witnesses Muncey expects to have testify and any reports created by experts that would be used in his defense. Wheeler granted that motion.
Muncey is charged with murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of Casey Stanley, 26, in Moulton Field the night of June 11. Police said Stanley was stabbed in the chest.
At a court hearing in July, Muncey’s cousin Paul said he phoned his cousin from Auburn telling him he’d argued earlier that night with a man in the woods behind Florian’s Market. He asked his cousin to help in case the altercation turned violent.
Ryan Muncey, who had been in Buckfield, drove to Auburn. Paul Muncey later saw Stanley collapse with a knife wound to the chest. He might have seen his cousin, Ryan, standing at the top of the trail behind the store and yelled to the man. No answer came.
Paul Muncey testified that Stanley wasn’t the man he’d argued with. In fact, Stanley had tried to smooth things over between the two men.
Ryan Muncey and his girlfriend fled the state after he learned Stanley died, court records said.
Muncey’s girlfriend, Alicia Turner, told police Muncey said he pushed Stanley who then came at him with a rock. Turner wasn’t charged in connection with the case.
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