Suppression request denied in killing
Aswathappa’s statements to police will stand, judge rules
Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Prosecutors can use a Frankstown Township man's statements to state police, including his alleged confession, while addressing homicide and related charges in the 2021 stabbing death of his 24-year-old brother.
In a decision handed down Monday, Blair County Judge Jackie Bernard declined to suppress the use of Vasudev Y. Aswathappa's statements to state police, as requested by defense attorneys who maintained that their client's statements were unlawfully obtained.
Aswathappa was questioned at the state police barracks on July 27, 2021, during the hours after his brother, Suryadev Aswathappa, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in his basement-
level bedroom at the family's Frankstown Township residence.
Bernard, who evaluated the defendant's statements before and after he was Mirandaized at the state police barracks, identified no reasons to grant the suppression requests.
The judge's ruling puts Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky in a position to move forward with the case slated for review in court on Dec. 21 and for trial in 2024.
Defense attorney Ted Krol said Monday that he will be reviewing the judge's conclusions with fellow defense attorneys Christian Kersetter and Tom Farrell.
"We're going to have to look it over and see if this merits an interlocutory appeal," Krol said Monday.
An interlocutory appeal is one that seeks an evidentiary ruling from the state Superior Court before the case moves forward in county court.
Bernard, who convened a suppression hearing and reviewed records and arguments submitted by the attorneys, said her conclusion on the validity of Aswathappa's pre-Miranda statements were based on "the entirety of the record and the totality of the circumstances."
Defense attorneys had argued that the then-18-year-old Aswathappa wasn't Mirandized for the first four hours he was inside the state police barracks.
Then after being Mirandized, Aswathappa asked a question about his right to remain silent which defense attorneys contend police ignored.
In reaching her ruling, Bernard reported reviewing video recordings taken at the barracks during the first four hours, showing Aswathappa's "relaxed demeanor" and "casual conversations" with the state police personnel who provided pizza.
"Based upon a review of the video, this exchange was not an effort by the defendant to demonstrate his desire to leave or evidence that he is not free to go," Bernard said. "This jurist's review simply shows the defendant going to help himself to the offered pizza."
The judge also referred to the video showing Aswathappa, after returning from a restroom break, asking how much longer he would be "stuck" at the station.
"With his verbalization that he felt he was no longer free to leave, Cpl. (Kim) Ronan explained that they were going to obtain a body warrant and properly Mirandized him," the judge stated.
After signing the Miranda Rights waiver, the judge's ruling indicates that Ronan asked Aswathappa for more explanation about what happened to his brother.
While Aswathappa declined to answer some of her questions, the judge's ruling included video transcription indicating that Aswathappa, at one point, told Ronan: "All right, fine. It was self-defense."
While Ronan previously testified in court that Vasudev Aswathappa had accused his brother of threatening him with a knife, which led to a fight, she also testified that Vasudev had no signs of defensive wounds.
The defense attorneys also challenged Aswathappa's ability to understand the meaning of waiving Miranda rights.
Bernard said she was satisfied from her review of the record that Aswathappa knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights.
"Not only did the defendant hear and read the rights, he engaged in separate questions about the information on the waiver, confirmed his understanding of the waiver and then executed the written waiver," the judge wrote."
Bernard also pointed out that Aswathappa had questioned Ronan about his right to remain silent.
"She responded and repeated three times that he did have the right to remain silent," Bernard stated in her ruling.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.