Hearing planned in slaying of boy, 1

YOUNGSTOWN — Judge John M. Durkin will conduct a hearing at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on whether a suspect in the killing of a baby should remain in Mahoning County jail while the prosecution appeals the suppression of his confession to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Terrance Tate, 23, of Hilton Avenue, awaits trial on an aggravated murder charge in what police say was the fatal beating of Javonte Covington on his first birthday in April 2006.

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Seventh District Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the decision by Judge Durkin, of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, to exclude Tate’s confession from evidence.

Because Tate was in custody at the city police station when he made his statement and because he wasn’t warned of his right to remain silent before questioning began, all of Tate’s comments to police must be excluded, the appellate judges ruled.

The prosecution had appealed Judge Durkin’s decision, saying the confession was critical to its case.

Shortly after the appeals court ruled, Rhys Cartwright-Jones, assistant county prosecutor, asked Judge Durkin to keep Tate locked up pending the appeal to the state’s highest court because he’s facing the death penalty.

However, Tate’s lawyers, John B. Juhasz and Lynn Maro, filed a motion Friday morning asking Judge Durkin to release Tate from jail immediately and dismiss the charge against him.

“The defendant can no longer legally be held in jail when the government concedes it has no case,” Juhasz and Maro wrote. “To hold this defendant in jail one minute longer is unconscionable,” they added.