Monday, April 16th 2018, 7:34 pm
Attorneys for the Bixby football players charged with rape want a judge to give them the phones of a police detective and two assistant prosecutors.
The district attorney said the request is outrageous.
All four football players – Samuel Lakin, 17; Joe Wood, 16; William Thomas, 17; and Colton Cable, 17 - will be in court Tuesday as a judge decides if there’s enough evidence to make them stand trial.
3/7/2018 Related Story: Bixby Students Charged With Rape Plead Not Guilty
Prosecutors said the four boys raped a fellow teammate last fall, but, attorneys for the boys said there was not rape.
Rogers County District Attorney Matt Ballard wants a judge to throw out a request by the boys' attorneys to seize the phones of a Bixby police detective, an assistant prosecutor, and the relative of the victim who works at the Tulsa County D.A.'s office.
Attorneys for the players said the phone would show that relative is friends with the detective and the prosecutor, which would make them biased in the case.
Ballard said the cell phones contain too much confidential information about other cases and should not be handed over.
Ballard also said a statement made, most likely by Lakin, should be used against all the players in the case. Court documents say the other three players heard Lakin say something to the effect of, "The deeper it gets, the louder he screams," when the victim was being sexually assaulted.
Lakin’s attorney wants the judge to give Lakin his phone back, which was seized in November and searched by investigators in January.
The judge is expected to handle all these issues at a hearing Tuesday.
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