GUILTY FL - Naomi Jones, 12, Pensacola, 31 May 2017 *Arrest*

[Niner]

I'll be on a road trip tomorrow - so thought I'd post this now:

Thursday, August 2nd:
*Pretrial Hearing (@ 9am ET) - FL - Naomi Jones (12) (May 31, 2017; found June 4, 2017) - Robert LeTroy Howard (38) arrested (6/7/17) & indicted (6/30/17) for 1st degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, exploitation of a child & failure to register as SO. Plead not guilty; no bond. DA will seek DP.
Convicted sex offender in Alabama-served 15 years.
6/15/18 Update: Motion to continue, moved to 8/2 @ 9am.

 

[Niner]

Naomi Jones' accused murderer Robert Letroy Howard wants confession suppressed at trial

An Alabama sex offender accused of murdering 12-year-old Pensacola girl Naomi Jones is seeking to have his confession suppressed at trial.
[.....]
In separate motions filed last month, Howard's appointed public defenders raised two concerns: that Howard was arrested without legitimate probable cause, and that during an interrogation deputies used threats and implied promises to coerce him into confessing to the killing.
[.....]
Howard initially became a suspect in Naomi's disappearance because he is a registered sex offender in Alabama, and he was visiting the apartment complex where Naomi lived on the day she disappeared, according to court documents.

Investigators applied for a warrant to get Howard's cell phone data on June 5, the same day Naomi's remains was found.
[.....]
On June 6 investigators received the data from Howard's phone. They allegedly learned Howard had been in the area where Naomi's remains were found the morning of June 1, which was roughly 12-14 hours after Naomi was last seen publicly.

Howard was arrested as a result of that discovery. After four hours of interrogation, he allegedly told investigators that Naomi had come to his girlfriend's home uninvited, claiming the 12-year-old propositioned him, and he strangled the girl because she made him angry.

However, if the defense has its way, that allegation will be excluded from the trial.
[.....]
The prosecution has not yet filed responses to the defense's motion, but a hearing on the motions has been scheduled before Judge Gary Bergosh at 1:45 p.m. Aug. 15.

More in article about his confession.

 

[Niner]

Wednesday, August 15th:
*Motion to Suppress Hearing (@ 1:45pm ET) - FL - Naomi Jones (12) (May 31, 2017; found June 4, 2017) - Robert LeTroy Howard (38) arrested (6/7/17) & indicted (6/30/17) for 1st degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, exploitation of a child & failure to register as SO. Plead not guilty; no bond. DA will seek DP. Convicted sex offender in Alabama-served 15 years.
6/15/18 Update: Motion to continue, moved to 8/2 @ 9am.
8/2/18 Update: Motion to Suppress his confession will be heard on Aug. 15th.

 

[Niner]

Judge reviewing claim Naomi Jones murder suspect 'coerced' into confession

and of course, no further court dates in there.

 

[always reading]

I just found this thread, so please forgive if this has been discussed. Is there any other evidence besides the phone being in the area, and the confession?

 

[Niner]

Can anyone get into this court site? It's blocked on me....

Search

@Gardener1850 ??

 

[Niner]

Bumping up. @Gardener1850 - do you have anything?

TIA!

 

[Gardener1850]

Bumping up. @Gardener1850 - do you have anything?

TIA!

Sorry @Niner I didn't see this before now. I can't find anything new.

 

[Niner]

Thank you for checking!

 

[Niner]

Well it looks like he had a hearing on Tues. Oct. 2nd. Regarding the Motion to suppress his confession.

Naomi Jones murder: Accused killer's confession ruled admissible in court

Judge Gary Bergosh filed a written order Tuesday finding Howard's rights were not violated and his confession was given willingly.

The judge wrote that while Howard was certainly "misadvised" when he was told he was not under arrest, this error did not render his confession involuntary.
[.....]
.....
Bergosh wrote that legal precedent had established an officer "does not have to specifically tell the detained person that he or she is under arrest; all that is required is that the officer's conduct inform the person that he or she is under arrest."

Bergosh noted that Howard was informed during his interrogation that he had been detained in connection with Naomi's death. Howard was also read his Miranda rights, and he reportedly did not confess until hours into the interview when investigators said they had evidence linking Howard to a crime scene.
[.....]
In a separate ruling, Bergosh also dismissed a motion to suppress cellphone location data taken from Howard's phone records. Howard's attorney argued the data was seized without probable cause.

The search warrant affidavit said that Howard, a known sexual offender, could be placed at the apartment complex at the approximate time Naomi disappeared, which Bergosh found to be sufficient probable cause.
[.....]
A trial date has not yet been set.

And of course no "next" hearing date....

 

[Hraefn]

Well it looks like he had a hearing on Tues. Oct. 2nd. Regarding the Motion to suppress his confession.

Naomi Jones murder: Accused killer's confession ruled admissible in court

Judge Gary Bergosh filed a written order Tuesday finding Howard's rights were not violated and his confession was given willingly.

The judge wrote that while Howard was certainly "misadvised" when he was told he was not under arrest, this error did not render his confession involuntary.
[.....]
.....
Bergosh wrote that legal precedent had established an officer "does not have to specifically tell the detained person that he or she is under arrest; all that is required is that the officer's conduct inform the person that he or she is under arrest."

Bergosh noted that Howard was informed during his interrogation that he had been detained in connection with Naomi's death. Howard was also read his Miranda rights, and he reportedly did not confess until hours into the interview when investigators said they had evidence linking Howard to a crime scene.
[.....]
In a separate ruling, Bergosh also dismissed a motion to suppress cellphone location data taken from Howard's phone records. Howard's attorney argued the data was seized without probable cause.

The search warrant affidavit said that Howard, a known sexual offender, could be placed at the apartment complex at the approximate time Naomi disappeared, which Bergosh found to be sufficient probable cause.
[.....]
A trial date has not yet been set.

And of course no "next" hearing date....

Thank you for the update!

 

[Niner]

@Gardener1850 - just wondering if there might be court dates since it's the end of October.
TIA!

 

[Gardener1850]

Well it looks like he had a hearing on Tues. Oct. 2nd. Regarding the Motion to suppress his confession.

Naomi Jones murder: Accused killer's confession ruled admissible in court

Judge Gary Bergosh filed a written order Tuesday finding Howard's rights were not violated and his confession was given willingly.

The judge wrote that while Howard was certainly "misadvised" when he was told he was not under arrest, this error did not render his confession involuntary.
[.....]
.....
Bergosh wrote that legal precedent had established an officer "does not have to specifically tell the detained person that he or she is under arrest; all that is required is that the officer's conduct inform the person that he or she is under arrest."

Bergosh noted that Howard was informed during his interrogation that he had been detained in connection with Naomi's death. Howard was also read his Miranda rights, and he reportedly did not confess until hours into the interview when investigators said they had evidence linking Howard to a crime scene.
[.....]
In a separate ruling, Bergosh also dismissed a motion to suppress cellphone location data taken from Howard's phone records. Howard's attorney argued the data was seized without probable cause.

The search warrant affidavit said that Howard, a known sexual offender, could be placed at the apartment complex at the approximate time Naomi disappeared, which Bergosh found to be sufficient probable cause.
[.....]
A trial date has not yet been set.

And of course no "next" hearing date....

This article is the last thing I'm seeing in MSM. I guess there is no date set yet?

 

[MsFacetious]

He has a docket day (chance to change his plea) 11/28/2018 at 9am. This is also the next date shown on the inmate look up.

JAIL View

He has had several docket days, including one on October 3 and he waived his appearance at that.

I don't THINK he had a hearing on October 2, I think the judge just issued her written orders on that date. At the August 15 hearing she took them under advisement. On October 2 she filed the orders denying the motions.

If that is correct, then I don't see another hearing date scheduled either. There are handwritten hearing worksheets filed after each hearing which are confusing because they all list a trial date but it just keeps getting pushed back. However, the docket doesn't reflect that so I don't think it's actually trial dates being set. It's strange.

Also I wasn't aware that they had failed to file the kidnapping/exploitation and were only going ahead with murder and failure to register. So I noticed that, obviously it's not news to anyone else but I haven't been following closely.

Sorry that's all I found Niner!

 

[Niner]

a BUNCH!! MsFacetious!!

 

[Niner]

Wednesday, Nov. 28th:
*Docket Day Hearing (@ 9am ET) - FL - Naomi Jones (12) (May 31, 2017, Pensacola; found June 4, 2017) - *Robert LeTroy Howard (38) arrested (6/7/17) & indicted (6/30/17) for 1st degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, exploitation of a child & failure to register as SO. Plead not guilty; no bond. DA will seek DP.
Convicted sex offender in Alabama-served 15 years.
6/15/18 Update: Motion to continue, moved to 8/2.
8/2/18 Update: Motion to Suppress his confession will be heard on Aug. 15th.
8/15/18 hearing moved to 10/3/18: Re Motion to Suppress his confession - Judge Gary Bergosh filed a written order Tuesday finding Howard's rights were not violated and his confession was given willingly. In a separate ruling, Bergosh also dismissed a motion to suppress cellphone location data taken from Howard's phone records. Howard's attorney argued the data was seized without probable cause. No trial date has been set. No further dates given.
10/3/18 Update: Next Docket Day hearing on 11/28.

 

[Niner]

Next hearing Jan. 30, 2019 at 9am

link: JAIL View

 

[Niner]

Naomi Jones' mother sues apartment complex for allowing sex offender 'unfettered access' to kids


The mother of Naomi Jones has filed a lawsuit against her landlords claiming their negligence in allowing an Alabama sex offender to reside on their property led to her 12-year-old daughter's death.

On Monday, Shantara Hurry filed a wrongful death against Aspen Village Acquisition LLC and Progressive Management of America Inc., the entities that respectively own and manage the Aspen Village Apartments at 1460 E. Johnson Ave.

 

[Niner]

Wednesday, January 30th:
*Pretrial Hearing (@ 9am ET) - FL - Naomi Jones (12) (May 31, 2017, Pensacola; found June 4, 2017) - *Robert LeTroy Howard (38) arrested (6/7/17) & indicted (6/30/17) for 1st degree murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, exploitation of a child & failure to register as SO. Plead not guilty; no bond. DA will seek DP. Convicted sex offender in Alabama-served 15 years.
6/15/18 Update: Motion to continue, moved to 8/2. 8/2/18: Motion to Suppress his confession will be heard on Aug. 15th. 8/15/18 hearing moved to 10/3/18: Re Motion to Suppress his confession - Judge Gary Bergosh filed a written order Tuesday finding Howard's rights were not violated and his confession was given willingly. In a separate ruling, Bergosh also dismissed a motion to suppress cell phone location data taken from Howard's phone records. Howard's attorney argued the data was seized without probable cause. No trial date has been set.
10/3/18 Update: Next Docket Day hearing on 11/28.
11/28/Update: Next pretrial hearing on 1/30/19.

 

[Niner]

JAIL View

Next court date is 3/27/19