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Key Evidence Ruled Admissible in Marcelo Lucero Case

Posted February 16, 2010 by Ted Hesson

Several pieces of key evidence—including a written confession by Jeffrey Conroy, who is accused of stabbing and killing Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero—will be admissible in the trial of two of Lucero’s attackers, according to a February 11 ruling by Judge Robert W. Doyle. Back in December, Long Island Wins blogged about pretrial hearings where defense lawyers sought to challenge the admissibility of written statements provided by Jeffrey Conroy and Kevin Shea, as well as the police identification procedures used to identify the defendants on the night of Lucero’s murder.

In addition to the judge’s decision related to the evidence, the ruling also notes that the prosecution consented to dismiss two charges against Shea and Conroy, both related to second-degree attempted gang assault. “After further legal research it was determined that this crime is a legal impossibility and we could not move forward on it,” said a spokesperson for Thomas J. Spota’s office.

In summary, Judge Doyle’s decision said that:

—The identification procedure used by the police was lawful and the witness who identified Conroy and Shea at the crime scene on the night of the crime can identify both of them at trial.

—The oral statements made by Conroy to a police officer at the scene of the crime were not obtained in violation of his constitutional rights and are admissible at trial.

—The oral and written statements made by Conroy and Shea to detectives were not obtained in violation of their constitutional rights and are admissible at trial.

Jury selection is scheduled for February 22 for Shea and March 1 for Conroy. One defense lawyer anticipated that each jury selection could take at least one week, due to the intensity of the media coverage around the trial.

Click here for a PDF of Judge Robert W. Doyle’s ruling. To see Jeffrey Conroy’s written statement, click here. To see Kevin Shea’s written statement, click here.

Here’s one of the pieces of evidence affected by the ruling—a sketch that Conroy made of the crime scene while in police custody:

Tags : hate crime, jeffrey conroy, kevin shea, marcelo lucero, patchogue

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