Murder suspect repeats request to have cell phone records withheld

The judge denied the same request last week.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
AKRON -- Damian Bradford is again asking that his cellular telephone records be withheld from his upcoming trial.
Bradford, 24, is in jail waiting for his July trial in the May 2005 slaying of Dr. Gulam Moonda on the Ohio Turnpike.
His attorneys filed a motion Monday asking U.S. Senior Judge David Dowd to reconsider their request to throw out cellular telephone records that place Bradford's cellular telephone near the crime scene. Bradford has told police he was selling drugs near his Beaver County, Pa., home when Dr. Moonda was shot in the head by a highway robber at about 6:30 p.m. May 13, 2005.
New reasons
The judge denied a similar request last week, but in the new court motion Bradford's attorneys, Michael DeRiso and Patrick Thomassey of Pittsburgh, ask the judge to look at the Wireless Communication Act of 1999.
According to court papers filed in Bradford's behalf, "without express prior authorization of the customer, a customer shall not be considered to have approved the use or disclosure of or access to call information."
Court papers say Bradford did not give permission and a court order was not obtained by authorities for the information.
Bradford has been charged by federal authorities with interstate stalking and use of a firearm during a crime of violence in the death of the 69-year-old urologist from Hermitage, Pa.
cioffi@vindy.com