GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The attorney for a teenager charged in a murder outside a pharmacy wants his statements to police tossed out. Meanwhile, an April 25 trial date was set at a hearing Tuesday.
Jeremiah Robinson, then 15, allegedly shot and killed a man outside of the Walgreens on the corner of Oneida and Mason Streets on Feb. 18.
Robinson’s attorney, Michael Balskus, filed the suppression motion Tuesday, asking that Robinson’s interview with police not be allowed at trial.
“The defendant asserts that: the Defendant was 16 years old at the time of the statement; the Defendant did not understand his Miranda Warnings; the Defendant wanted to talk to his father before talking to the police; the Defendant did not have his father present; the Defendant had limited educational background; and the Defendant does not remember having been read his Miranda warnings in the past. That based on his condition he could not fully understand his Constitutional rights. The statements were not knowingly, voluntary, intelligent and freely given to law enforcement. The Defendant requests that the Court suppress the statements preventing the use of the statements at trial,” Balskus wrote.
Prosecutors have not responded to the motion. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27 on that issue.
According to the criminal complaint, Robinson and another man, Jeromy Finke, got into a confrontation with the victim and another man over money during a drug deal. Robinson told police he shot the victim in self-defense after being threatened with brass knuckles. Police have not named the 31-year-old victim, who was shot four times.
In Wisconsin, those between 10 and 16 years and charged with homicide are prosecuted in adult court. In December, Judge Thomas Walsh denied a request to have the case moved to juvenile court.
Robinson is being held on a $1 million cash bond.
