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Appeals Court considers statements made by Kalamazoo mass shooting suspect Jason Dalton

The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday heard arguments whether statements made by Kalamazoo mass shooting suspect Jason Dalton can be used against him. The part-time Uber driver is charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder for a Feb. 2016 shooting rampage.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The attorney representing Kalamazoo mass shooting suspect Jason Dalton says statements he made to police after his Feb. 2016 arrest shouldn’t be used against him because Dalton repeatedly requested an attorney and didn’t want to answer questions.

“He invoked his right to an attorney repeatedly, but no attorney was ever provided,’’ appellate lawyer Anastase Markou told the Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday. “He says ‘I want to speak to an attorney.’ They never give him an opportunity to do so.’’

Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Holsomback said there was a public safety concern that required officers to get whatever information they could out of Dalton at the time he was questioned.

“If there is a public safety issue, the police are allowed to ask those questions,’’ Holsomback told appeals court justices. “Is there other shooting scenes we don’t know about? That’s the public safety exception.’’

Even with the questioning, “there’s no showing of substantial harm,’’ Holsomback said.

Both sides presented their case before the Michigan Court of Appeals in Grand Rapids on Tuesday morning. Justices are being asked to decide whether statements Dalton made to police can be used against him at his upcoming murder trial in Kalamazoo County.

The issue has been bandied about for more than a year. Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Alexander C. Lipsey ruled in April, 2017 that prosecutors cannot use some of Dalton’s statements, but said others were fair game.

Dalton’s legal team wanted all of the statements kept out and last year asked the appeals court to weigh in. The appeals court declined to hear the case.

It then went to the Michigan Supreme Court, which ordered the appeals court to consider Dalton’s case. The March decision set the stage for Tuesday’s hearing before justices Joel P. Hoekstra, William B. Murphy and Jane E. Markey.

Justices asked questions of Markou and Holsomback in a hearing that lasted about 20 minutes.

Several friends and relatives of those killed attended Tuesday’s hearing, including Robert Reynolds, whose mother, 74-year-old Judy Brown, was fatally shot in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel restaurant.

“Yeah, there’s frustration,’’ Reynolds said of the legal delays. “In the beginning, we were kind of led to believe it was going to be a speedy process. But now I know it’s not going to be a speedy process.’’

Kalamazoo County assistant prosecutor Jeffrey D. Williams attended Tuesday’s hearing but did not address the court. He said he thought both sides were well prepared and gave informative arguments.

No matter how the Court of Appeals rules, Williams said his office is ready for trial.

“I’m very comfortable trying this case both with or without the statements,’’ Williams said outside of court. “If the statements come in, it’s one more thing to have in the tool box. If they don’t, I still think we have a very strong case.’’

Dalton is charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder for the weekend shooting rampage at three locations in Kalamazoo County. Police say Dalton committed the shootings in between picking up riders for Uber.

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