— TULSA (AP) — Prosecutors say one of two men accused of gunning down three black people in April understood his rights after he was arrested and voluntarily gave statements to police.
In a 15-page court filing Monday, First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond said the confession by Jake England should be admitted into evidence because a video recording of the interview proves he was properly read his Miranda rights before any questioning began.
Drummond said those rights included "an unambiguous statement that anything he said would be used against him in a court of law."
Attorneys for England have asserted that police took statements from him in violation of his constitutional rights. Attorneys for the other defendant, Alvin Watts, have filed a similar motion, but that hasn't been resolved.
A judge will consider the motions at a hearing next Tuesday.
England, 19, and Watts, 33, face murder and hate crimes charges stemming from the Easter weekend shootings that killed William Allen, Bobby Clark and Dannaer Fields. Two others were wounded.The shootings took place in a predominantly black section of Tulsa, and all of the victims were black. Watts is white and England identifies himself as Cherokee Indian.
Authorities believe England may have targeted black people because he wanted to avenge his father's shooting death by a black man two years ago.
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