On New Year’s Day a St. Mary’s resident was arrested for the death of a Rossville man, and on Friday morning in Pottawatomie County court the prosecution and defense squared off on whether or not portions of evidence should be allowed in the upcoming jury trial.
Pablo Gonzalez is charged with second degree homicide and aggravated assault after the body of Rossville resident Levi Bishop was found deceased in the passenger seat of his vehicle on January 1st.
The defense questioned admissibility of statements given by Gonzalez to the police on the morning of the incident, and argued one of the mitigating factors was Gonzalez’s blood alcohol level of .25 at the start of the interview. The prosecution stated the interview was stopped after Gonzalez asked for an attorney, but unsolicited comments made by the defendant after the interview was formally halted to a detective present at the scene should be allowed as evidence. Pottawatomie County Prosecutor Sherri Schuck presented Judge Jeffrey Elder with the entire audio file of the interview in question to aid in his decision on the issue.
A second item of contention brought forward by Schuck involved several interviews of witnesses involving alleged incidents in which Gonzalez was heavily intoxicated. The defense argued the witness testimony was inadmissible due to the statements being propensity evidence instead of being probative.
Judge Elder stated he will give a written decision on these motions in two weeks time. Gonzalez will face a jury trial on the charges on August 25th.
