A judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can't use computers seized from the home of Alvaro Rafael Castillo, accused of an August shooting at Orange High School and of killing his father, said District Attorney Jim Woodall.
Woodall said the decision came after Castillo's public defender, James Williams, motioned to suppress evidence.
"I didn't oppose the motion, and the reason for that was that in the search warrant, there was no probable cause given for seizing computers," Woodall said.
"It was clear that they couldn't be seized."
Castillo, 19, an Orange High graduate, is accused of driving a van through the guard house of the student parking lot about 1 p.m. Aug. 30 and opening fire, injuring two students.
When taken into custody, Castillo told authorities he had killed his father, Rafael Huezo Castillo, earlier that day. Rafael Castillo's body later was found with gunshot wounds at their home at 230 Lipps Lane in Hillsborough.
Castillo is being held without bond in Central Prison in Raleigh and is charged with several felonies, including first-degree murder and two counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
Castillo has said he's "obsessed" with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which two students killed 13 people before killing themselves.
The Columbine High principal reportedly received an e-mail from Castillo sent just hours before the incident that states he had planned a shooting in a N.C. school. Because the computers are not admissible in court, the e-mail cannot be linked officially to Castillo.
Woodall said the court will hear whether the prosecution will seek the death penalty, as well as an update on the outstanding discovery of documents the prosecution seeks in a hearing April 25.
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