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A judge has torpedoed accused killer Fraser Bohm's bid to throw out the statements he made to cops in the hours after the terrible crash that took the lives of four Pepperdine University sorority sisters.
asserted
that → see → sisters
The 24-year-old's lawyers filed a motion claiming that his answers to police questions about how fast he was driving, whether he'd taken alcohol or drugs or if he was texting or talking on his phone just before the fatal pileup, should be inadmissible because they amounted to illegal 'custodial interrogation' before he was read his Miranda rights.
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he → file → rights
His legal team also filed a second motion insisting that because Bohm was suffering from a concussion caused by a head injury from the accident, the answers he gave to cops were 'not voluntary,' and therefore not admissible either.
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he → file → cops
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson denied both motions on Tuesday, ruling that Bohm was 'not in Miranda custody' at the time police grilled him and that his roadside statements at the scene of the crash on Malibu's Pacific Coast Highway 'were voluntary.'
Bohm, who was 22 at the time of the accident, said nothing as he sat in court in Van Nuys, near LA, wearing a light gray suit, white shirt and blue check tie.
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he → deny → suit
He arrived for the hearing alongside his divorced parents, father Christopher and his mother Brooke, who reportedly bought the BMW car involved in the crash as a present for her son's 18th birthday.
uncertain
who → arrive → birthday
The former high school baseball star has pleaded not guilty to four charges of second-degree murder and four of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the accident that killed Pepperdine University sorority sisters Niamh Rolston, 20, Asha Weir, 21, Peyton Stewart, 21 and Deslyn Williams, 21.
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that → plead → Rolston
The four young women died when he lost control of the BMW and collided with stationary vehicles in the parking lane on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, next to where the girls were walking.
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girls → die → Malibu
Fraser Bohm, 24, was seen arriving at court last week ahead of a crucial hearing over whether jurors will hear what he told police in the hours after the deadly Malibu crash
Bohm, pictured with his mother last week, is facing four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence over the crash that killed four Pepperdine students in 2023
The speed limit there is 45mph and prosecutors charged Bohm with quadruple murder after retrieving the 'black box' from his car which showed that he accelerated from 93mph to 104mph just two and a half seconds before the crash.
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he → see → crash
During the latest motion hearing, defense attorney Jacqueline Sparagna argued that Bohm was detained for several hours at the scene of the crash, that deputies who questioned him were 'confrontational and accusatory' and that he was told he would be arrested if he didn't co-operate.
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he → argue → him
Describing the large number of deputies who showed up to the crash scene, as 'enormous,' she added that Bohm was 'under police restraint.
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Bohm → describe → restraint
Sparagna said the deputies' questioning of Bohm, who was not read his Miranda rights till some six hours after the accident, was 'custodial interrogation,' that her client was treated as a 'suspect' and the questions he was asked were 'intended to elicit an incriminating response.'
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he → say → response
According to his lawyer, Bohm suffered head injuries in the crash and was suffering from a concussion at the time cops were questioning him.
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cops → accord → him
'He was disoriented, he was in shock… he was completely out of it,' Sparagna told the court.
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Sparagna → tell → court
She argued that a psychiatrist and neurologist who examined Bohm in the days after the accident diagnosed him as having a concussion.
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who → argue → concussion
'He was not able to speak coherently for months afterward,' she said.
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she → speak → months
The crash killed four Pepperdine University students, including Deslyn Williams (left) and Niamh Rolston who were sorority sisters and close friends
Peyton Stewart (left) and Asha Weir were members of Alpha Phi at Pepperdine University - and were pronounced dead alongside their two friends at the scene
Prosecutor Polene Ghazanian countered saying the reason there was such a large police presence at the crash scene was 'the gravity of the situation...
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reason → kill → situation
She told the court that while Bohm was questioned at the scene for several hours, he was 'not under arrest' at the time and 'this does not constitute Miranda custody.'
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this → tell → custody
Ghazanian maintained that from video shot by deputies' body cameras, Bohm's statements were voluntary and he was not subjected to interrogation.
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he → maintain → interrogation
As to defense claims that Bohm had a concussion, she added that cops and paramedics at the scene concluded that he understood everything that was happening and he was not concussed.
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he → add → everything
In denying the defense motions, Judge Rubinson referred to the 'extraordinary circumstances' of the horrific accident and deputies called to the scene were 'entitled' to ask Bohm how fast he was driving and other questions
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he → deny → Bohm
'He was detained - but he was not in custody for purposes of Miranda.
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he → detain → Miranda
He was not arrested.
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He → arrest → ?
He was never handcuffed at the scene.
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He → handcuff → scene
While he conceded that Bohm may have later been diagnosed as having a concussion, the judge rejected defense arguments that he was concussed when answering police questions immediately after the crash.
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he → concede → crash
Footage obtained by KTLA from the night of the crash show the mangled remains of his red BMW which he received as an 18th birthday present as part of his wealthy parents' divorce settlement
The four young women were struck and killed along the Pacific Coast Highway in an area known locally as 'Dead Man's Curve' on October 17, 2023
'
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women → obtain → October
He was able to understand what was being asked,' he said.
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he → understand → ?
'He knew where he was.
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he → know → ?
He knew where he came from and were he was going.'
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he → know → where
Bohm's jury trial was originally scheduled to start last week.
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trial → schedule → ?
But Judge Rubinson agreed to postpone it till December 1 after hearing from the Malibu native's lead attorney, Alan Jackson, that he needed more time to mount a defense against prosecutors' explosive 'new theory' that Bohm had a 'giant canister of nitrous oxide' - best known as laughing gas - in his lap just before the crash.
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Bohm → agree → crash
Jackson complained in earlier court filings that the LA District Attorney's announcement 'on the eve of trial' that the 10-12 pound canister of nitrous, with nozzle, found inside Bohm's car would be central to the case, 'implied' that Bohm was inhaling the gas at the time of the crash.
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Bohm → complain → crash
But Deputy DA Nathan Bartos assured the court that he did not intend to argue that Bohm actually inhaled the nitrous - which can produce a short, euphoric high when inhaled - only that he 'possessed' the canister 'and that possession distracted his driving.'
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possession → assure → driving
Judge Rubinson told the court that he would 'hold prosecutors to that' and he would not allow any suggestion to the jury at trial that Bohm was actually inhaling nitrous at the time of the accident, 'not even a nod, nod, wink wink.'
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Bohm → tell → wink
According to Sparagna, Bohm had been seeing several therapists for anxiety, depression and other mental issues for years before the October 2023 fatal crash in Malibu.
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Bohm → accord → Malibu
She sought to admit into evidence testimony from one therapist who described a 2019 session with Bohm when he arrived ‘scared and shaking,’ from a road-rage incident which happened that day on his way to therapy.
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which → seek → therapy
Bohm's lead defense attorney Alan Jackson had argued that his client was effectively in police custody for hours before investigators finally read him his Miranda rights
Over objections from prosecutors, Judge Rubinson declared that testimony would be admissible, ruling that it was relevant because Bohm is claiming that the Malibu accident happened because of another instance
The heartbroken parents of the four victims have all brought wrongful death civil lawsuits against Bohm and are also suing the State of California, LA County, the City of Malibu and the California Coastal Commission, claiming dangerous road design on PCH and lack of safety standards.
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parents → argue → standards
They were due to graduate with the class of 2024 and later were awarded their Pepperdine degrees posthumously.
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They → graduate → degrees
The Aporia
