Anthony Sowell Police Interrogation Allowed in "Cleveland Strangler" Case

CLEVELAND (CBS/AP) Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland man charged with killing 11 women and dumping their remains around his home, was hoping to get his taped police interrogation thrown out, claiming he was too mentally unstable to submit to questioning at the time of his arrest.

The judge didn't buy it.

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Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Dick Ambrose denied a motion to keep statements Sowell made to police out of court. Sowell's lawyers had claimed that he was incapable of voluntarily waiving his Miranda rights upon his arrest last October due to "his mental state."

The defense pointed to one part of the 12-hour interrogation, conducted on two separate days, in which Sowell told officers that he heard "voices" telling him not to enter the room on the third floor of his home, where some of the bodies were found.

Sowell told officers that he didn't remember what happened to the women that "he had over to his house," according to the ruling. He also told police that he had confusing dreams and suffered from depression.

Ambrose wrote that the defense had not shown that Sowell was suffering from a psychosis when he waived his rights or that he was unable to make "free and rational choices."

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Ambrose ruled that Sowell did not say anything or exhibit any behavior on video that would indicate he was hearing voices or experiencing delusions during the interrogation. Sowell was given adequate warning of his Miranda rights and waived those rights in the presence of police officers and in writing on at least two occasions, the judge wrote.

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse. Prosecutors say he lured the women to his home with the promise of alcohol or drugs. Since the bodies were found, he has been charged with attacking five other women who survived.

Ambrose noted that the defense has still not yet completed its own mental health evaluation of Sowell, even though funding for a mental health expert was approved in December 2009.

MEDIA

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