Quotes like that one from a 39-page transcribed interview with law enforcement are what defense attorneys for Chavez, 20, sought to supress Thursday as evidence in the case moving towards trial as early as March 17.

The Oct. 11 shooting occurred during what the defendant said was a transaction for about a pound of marijuana. Going into a $2,000 transaction penniless with co-defendant Tate Martinson, then 17, Chavez said that the gun accidentally went off twice when the victim attempted to grab it from him.

South Dakota man Mohammed Yaqoub, 28, was found dead after surveillance video showed Martinson and Chavez entering and subsequently fleeing the Chevrolet Impala he was found in.

That interview, law enforcement’s first with him after the shooting, was conducted by Detective Larry Hedlund of the Fort Dodge Police Department in Georgia after a nationwide manhunt for Chavez ended about 20 miles north of Florida. Chavez said in subsequent interviews he was trying to get to Florida.

-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious
State attorneys Thursday called witness Larry Hedlund, detective for Fort Dodge Police Department, to help rebut defense attorney accusations that he improperly advised Damion Chavez of his Miranda rights. Damion Chavez’s trial for first-degree murder is scheduled for March 17.

In a two-hour hearing on the motion, lead defense attorney Katherine Flickinger argued that everything obtained from that interview was a “fruit of the poisonous tree” after Hedlund failed to properly Mirandize Chavez or allow him to call his mother without delay.

Hairs were split in the language Hedlund used after reading Chavez his Miranda Rights verbatim from a form used by FDPD. At the heart of the defense’s argument was that the two paragraphs where the defendant initials agreement to waive his rights were not a “knowing, intelligent and voluntary” waiver of his rights — simply an acknowledgement of receiving his rights.

Flickinger said that after reading his rights, Chavez was simply following Hedlund’s instructions to initial on the designated portions of the document — not acknowledging a full waiver of his rights to an attorney at the state’s expense.

She also asked the court to consider an Iowa code violation which allows a defendant to contact family upon request without delay, something transcripts showed was delayed by 12 minutes. From the interview room in Georgia, Hedlund called Chavez’s mother after the third request.

Flickinger cited portions of that conversation to highlight what she said was a lack of a “clear and unequivocal” waiver of his rights, something District Court Judge Angela Doyle may consider in her written ruling.

“They said that, um… I can’t remember what it’s called,” Chavez said, referring to his Miranda Rights, which he seemed to confuse with procedures for extradition to Iowa. “If I waived it, I will be back in Fort Dodge for 10 days.”

“You waived it?” his mother asked.

“Yeah, so I can’t talk to an attorney or nothing down here right now,” he replied.

Miranda Rights specifically guarantee the right to consult an attorney during interviews and interrogations with law enforcement.

“(Chavez) 100% understood the situation he was facing,” First Assistant County Attorney Ryan Baldridge said, balking at assertions to the contrary.

Baldridge cited Chavez’s coherence, emotional state and 11th grade education level in rebuttals to the defense’s argument that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his rights before talking to Hedlund.

The prosecutor said Flickinger took the phone conversation between Chavez and his mother out of context, and that Chavez was referring to his waiver of extradition rights, agreeing to be transported back to Iowa — not his waiver of a right to an attorney.

A ruling on the matter is expected from Doyle soon. Chavez’s trial date remains tentatively scheduled for March 17.