LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — The defense team in Casey White’s capital murder case filed several motions on Thursday – including one seeking to have a judge throw out his alleged confession, another asking if the state plans to seek the death penalty and asking to push his trial date back.
White is charged with stabbing Connie Ridgeway in Rogersville in 2015. Authorities said White confessed to the killing and provided details in the case in June 2020, while he was an inmate in the Alabama Department of Corrections system.
The defense filed a motion to suppress statements White made to law enforcement officials and any evidence that was collected based on those statements. The court documents state he had not been advised of his Miranda rights at that time.
A second motion to suppress focused specifically on White’s written and oral statements, specifically those made in violation of his privilege against self-incrimination and a right to counsel, when they led to an “unlawful arrest,” and when they violated his right to privacy.
White’s legal team filed the motions in Lauderdale County Circuit Court on June 2.
Citing the Alabama and U.S. constitutions, White’s team said the information on whether or not the State of Alabama will seek the death penalty should be stated in a timely manner to allow them to prepare the case.
Prosecutors have previously told News 19 they are seeking the death penalty for White.
White’s team made a motion to inspect, examine and test all physical evidence. The motion compels the State to produce the physical evidence it possesses related to the murder victim in the case for inspection and testing by experts designated by the defense counsel, Mark McDaniel.
The motion lists clothing, weapons, fingerprints, notes and writings, blood, and other bodily samples as examples of physical evidence.
The defense team asked the State to allow an expert to examine, inspect, and photograph the listed items.
Additionally, court documents show the defense team also sought to suppress White’s statements before he was presented to a committing judge and when he made statements without counsel or “without an adequate warning of his rights.”
The defense also filed a motion to push White’s trial back from its start date of June 13. The motion states they need more time to prepare their case because this is a potential death penalty case and they were retained as White’s lawyers only recently.
The motion adds the team spoke with Lauderdale County District Attorney Christopher Connolly and he had no issues with a continuance.
All of the motions relate to White’s capital murder case and have nothing to do with his assisted escape from the Lauderdale County Jail that happened in late April.
