The attorney for a baseball player accused of raping a woman in Whitefish says a jailhouse interview should be suppressed because his client was not properly given his Miranda rights.
But the prosecutor says that no incriminating statements were made in the approximately five minutes before a Flathead County sheriff’s deputy read 27-year-old Eric Cordova his rights during an interview about an alleged rape last spring.
Attorneys from both sides met on Jan. 8 at a hearing in Flathead County District Court to decide whether a judge will dismiss a critical piece of evidence.
Cordova was charged with felony sexual intercourse without consent in May 2015 and pleaded not guilty to the charges in June. Cordova is originally from Los Angeles and was in the Flathead Valley to play baseball for the now defunct Glacier Outlaws.
According to Public Defender Brent Getty’s motion to suppress, Flathead County Sheriff’s Deputy Colten O’Connell interviewed Cordova at the Flathead County Detention Center on May 25. After getting Cordova a glass of water, the detective started to make small talk and the two talked about baseball for a few minutes before Cordova mentioned the charge against him. The detective said the charge “sounds pretty big” and asked if it “could be a game ender” for Cordova. The two men then briefly talked about the charge and Cordova’s lack of criminal history. About five minutes into the interview, the deputy said, “What I’d like to do with you this morning is talk to you about what happened last night and early morning. Before we get into that I do need to advise you of your rights,” according to court documents.
Getty believes the entire interview should be suppressed at trial. But Prosecutor Alison Howard argues that the deputy was trying to build a rapport with the defendant. O’Connell also testified at the hearing that there was a concern that Cordova might not understand English and that he was trying to figure out if an interpreter would be needed prior to advising the man of his rights.
“In this case, Deputy O’Connell was merely building a rapport with the defendant and nothing he asked (prior to giving Cordova his Miranda rights) solicited an incriminating response,” Howard said. “This was basically two or three minutes of general conversation to establish if Cordova understood English.”
But Getty argues that the deputy should have given Cordova his rights immediately.
“If you want to ask someone if they speak English, you just ask them if they speak English,” Getty said. “You don’t talk about baseball and how their day is going.”
At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Robert Allison said he would make a decision about the motion sometime next week.
According to court documents, Cordova and a teammate were at a bar in Whitefish on May 24, 2015 when they met two women. One of them invited Cordova’s teammate home with her and all four went to a residence in Whitefish. The second woman made clear that she was not interested in Cordova and went to bed when they got home. But later, the woman allegedly woke up to Cordova having sex with her.
Cordova was arrested and immediately dismissed from the Glacier Outlaws. A few weeks later, the team folded amid the collapse of the independent baseball league.
Cordova is expected to go to trial next month. If convicted, he could face up to 100 years in prison.