A motion filed on behalf of felony murder suspect Freddie Rhodes to throw out a statement he made while concussed has been withdrawn, 95.3 MNC’s news partner The Elkhart Truth reported.
Rhodes’ attorney, Douglas Grimes, filed a request to withdraw the motion just minutes after Judge Terry Shewmaker’s Elkhart Circuit Court was called to order Wednesday, May 6.
Rhodes, 19, was charged with felony murder in connection with the September 2014 shooting death of Dre Tarrious Rodgers.
Rhodes, who is not being charged with pulling the trigger, named 17-year-old Deante Dalton as an accomplice during questioning.
Medical records show Rhodes was admitted to a hospital with a concussion and broken nose more than 11 hours after his arrest.
That’s why Rhodes’ former attorney, Mark Doty, filed a motion Feb. 16 asking the court to disregard Rhodes’ statement and also any evidence deputies found as a result of his questioning.
The motion argued that the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department’s decision to delay medical care for Rhodes led him to give a statement he doesn’t remember.
Doty withdrew from the case March 9, and Grimes took over a few days later.
“Due to the gravity of the charges pending against my client, I am unprepared at this time, given that I have been the attorney of record for a little over one month, to proceed with hearing on the Motion to Suppress Evidence filed by my predecessor,” Grimes wrote in his request for withdrawal.
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With Shewmaker’s ruling Wednesday, Elkhart Truth reporter Emily Pfund was temporarily relieved from her order to appear for testimony in the case.
In a separate ruling issued the same day, Shewmaker denied a previous request from Grimes to grant Rhodes a trial separate from co-defendant Dalton.
The trial for Rhodes and Dalton is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. June 15, according to The Elkhart Truth.
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