20221115_Armstrong_Franks_Hearing

Photo Credit: Twitter Anna “Mo” Wilson Austin, Texas On November 9, 2022, Travis County Judge Brenda Kelly denied the Armstrong’s Motion to Suppress Evidence after a Frank’s Hearing. The Judge is quoted by KXAN as stating that “There was no evidence of any intentional disregard for the truth. There was probable cause for Armstrong’s arrest.” Further, “Armstrong was told that she was free to leave five times”. The defense argued that the Warrant Application submitted by the Austin Police Department was inaccurate and contained misstatements

based upon a call from an anonymous tipster who claimed to have heard Armstrong say that she was going to kill Wilson. The APD arrested Armstrong on the misdemeanor warrant as a “pretext” to ask questions related to the murder of Mo. There is no law that prevents APD from using the arrest as a trap to then spring the murder accusation. However, this author believes that Armstrong should have been read her Miranda Rights and at the very least when Armstrong verbalized her request for an attorney, APD needed to stop questioning immediately. The NOLO Criminal Law Handbook 17th: Know Your Rights, Survive the System (January, 2022) by Paul Bergman, J.D. and Sara Berman, J.D. explains How the Police can benefit from delayed Miranda Warnings: “Crafty police officers may intentionally delay giving Miranda warnings to suspects following an arrest for a least two reasons.” 1.) “…Instead of immediately interrogating a suspect, an officer will reveal evidence that has been gathered thinking that a suspect will conclude there’s nothing to gain from silence and will indicate a willingness to confess. The officer can then advise the suspect of Miranada rights, making the subsequent confession admissible at trial. (U.S. v. Gonzalez-Lauzan, 11th Cir. 2006) 2.) The prosecution can in trial attack the credibility of a suspect who chooses to remain silent after being arrested by saying “If the suspect really didn’t do it, why didn’t the suspect say that immediately to officers?” APD believed that if asked to come into the station for questioning about Mo’s murder, Armstrong would most likely call an attorney to be present. Therefore, the misdemeanor warrant arrest was a way to get Armstrong to the station to get a shot a catching her by surprise and eliciting a confession. According to the defense motion, Armstrong requested that an attorney be present during questioning several times, but the interrogation continued by detectives. APD says that Armstrong was told she was free to leave after officers determined the warrant was invalid. Armstrong remains in custody with bail set at $3.5 million. Judge Kennedy set trial for June 26, 2023.