Documents taken from the jail cell of a former Ohio University graduate student accused of killing his father should not be used at trial, according to a motion filed by his lawyers.
Lawyers for Jonathan Bebb, 32, asked him to write documents ' which Bebb wrote while in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail ' that would help them prepare his defense, according to a March 28 motion. Kort Gatterdam, a lawyer for Bebb, did not explain what the documents were about or provide any other details.
Jail Warden Jeremy Tolson took Bebb's documents when he was moved into administrative segregation, separating him from the jail's general population.
The Warden then notified the prosecutor's office, which obtained a search warrant for Bebb's former jail cell to get the documents.
Bebb, who was charged with the Sept. 24 murder of Phillip Bebb ' his father and a former OU history professor ' was stripped of his constitutional rights to a lawyer, protection from unlawful searches, due process in the courts and equal protection under the law for these rights, according to the motion.
Bebb's lawyers argue that moving Bebb from one jail cell to another does not give the prosecutor the authority to look for evidence in the jail that might be related to the charges against him. Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren said he will argue that the documents were not wrongfully seized.
Gatterdam explained that seizing the documents and turning them over to anyone other than Bebb's lawyers violated Bebb's attorney-client privilege.
These documents are privileged
he said. Nobody should be seeing them except for his attorney.
Gatterdam also said that the contents of the writings are confidential and should not be used in the case because they were created specifically for his lawyers.
The attorney-client privilege is sacrosanct said Gatterdam. You can't violate it.
The motion argues that the prosecutors lacked probable cause to search Bebb's jail cell and that the search of the defendant's cell violated his rights because it was not part of jail safety.
Warren said that the motion to suppress documents is not an uncommon move for the defense to make.
You always get these motions filed particularly in murder cases
said Warren, adding that At this point
it's up for the judge to decide.
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