Lawyers for the men charged with killing former Student Body President Eve Carson will argue again today that they should see all evidence against their clients — including anonymous tips to the Crime Stoppers service.
A judge is expected to decide whether or not about 200 pages of Crime Stoppers reports can be handed to the defense, despite protests by the district attorney that it could endanger the informants or discourage the public from using the service.
Judge Allen Baddour said at a Dec. 30 hearing that he would review the pages of information.
“(Today) is basically to make arguments and possibly have a decision,” said attorney Jonathan Broun, who is representing Demario James Atwater, 23.
Atwater is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping along with Lawrence Alvin Lovette, 19, in the case.
Investigators used informants to help lead to their arrest in March 2008.
Carson’s body was found in a neighborhood off East Franklin Street, about a mile from campus. Prosecutors say Lovette and Atwater kidnapped her from her home March 5, 2008, drove her in her car to withdraw $1,400 from her bank account and then shot her five times.
State law requires the prosecution to give everything involved in the investigation of the defendant to the attorneys but exempts them from disclosing the identity of a confidential informant.
“The judge is going to make a decision based on state law and on the constitution,” Broun said.
Crime Stoppers is a nonprofit organization that partners with police and offers rewards to informants who give information leading to an arrest.
“The anonymity is important to a lot of people,” said Lt. Jabe Hunter of the Chapel Hill Police Department, who is a representative on the board of Crime Stoppers. “We need the public to solve crime in many cases.”
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
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