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WALB
February 11, 2014
Defense attorneys for a death penalty defendant charged with killing a Dougherty County Police officer don’t want jurors to hear about his criminal past.
Prosecutors say 22-year-old Dontravious Thomas fatally shot Lt. Cliff Rouse in December 2010, after robbing the Pitt Stop convenience store on Sylvester Road.
At a pre-trial hearing Friday, Detective Chad Kilpatrick testified that Thomas broke into that same store in 2009 and lived in a mobile home park behind it.
Thomas pled guilty to the break-in, but his attorneys argue that should not be brought up at trial because the crimes aren’t connected.
“One has nothing to do with the other. That’s the, that’s the position,” said Defense Attorney Burt Baker.
“It’s up to the court to consider the admissibility of this evidence and we will be piecing our case in part on the processes that are allowed under the rules of the court,” said D. A. Greg Edwards.
The defense presented other motions at Friday’s hearing. The D. A. believes the case could go to trial sometime later this year.
