Prosecutors are ready to drop the charge that Adam Joseph Longoria had oral sex with Great Bend teenager Alicia DeBolt before she was murdered last August, in light of evidence that the male DNA found in her mouth was not the defendant’s. Assistant Attorney General Victor Braden said the State is still seeking the death penalty, but wants to amend the reason for its capital murder charge from first-degree murder committed after the act of criminal sodomy to first-degree murder committed after attempted rape.
District Judge Hannelore Kitts ruled Thursday that Longoria is entitled to a new preliminary hearing before the State can amend its charges.
Alicia DeBolt was seen getting into a dark colored SUV at 11 p.m. on the night of Aug. 21, 2010, and a missing person report was filed Aug. 22. Her burned body was later discovered near a Venture Corporation asphalt plant near Dundee. Authorities allege that Longoria, who was 36 years old at the time, was obsessed with the girl, and that he lured her into his vehicle, took her to an isolated area, attempted to rape her, and killed her.
The case is moving forward, and the preliminary hearing will be held on the same day as the next pre-trial hearing, set for Oct. 5.
Braden argued that the evidence presented at Longoria’s original preliminary hearing was sufficient to cover the new charges. "Evidence continues to be collected," he said. "The state will continue to build its case." He compared it to a hypothetical murder case where a victim was shot three times and authorities believed the first shot was fatal, but later learned the second shot had killed the victim. "(It) is not a different crime, it is a different theory," he said.
Attorney Jeff Wicks from the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit said Longoria’s defense strategy had been based on the original allegations.
"Oral sex was their case," he said, adding the state shouldn’t be able to change the charges that could "put the needle in the arm" of Longoria without due process.
In addition to changing the reason for the capital murder charge and dropping the criminal sodomy charge, the state wants to add a charge of criminal solicitation of a child.
Attorneys at Thursday’s hearing also argued on the admissibility of evidence collected in the case. Great Bend Police Detective Denton Doze and Kansas Bureau of Investigation Agent Corey Latham testified about a search warrant served Aug. 26, 2010, at 1801 Eighth St., where Longoria was living. Doze said he went to Judge Mike Keeley’s house that morning and the judge signed the warrant.
"I had inadvertently left out the address where we wanted to search," Doze testified. That was hand written on the warrant, and initialed by Keeley and Doze. Latham later delivered the warrant, and officers were at the house from 9:30 p.m. until 4:30 the following morning.
The warrant listed items officers were looking for, including a cell phone. At one point, Longoria came on the property and "demanded to see a search warrant," Latham testified. "When he stepped on the property I approached him and took his phone."
Kitts allowed the evidence to stand, along with blood, a DNA swab and fingernail scrapings collected at Central Kansas Medical Center, fingerprints collected at the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, and evidence collected from a Ford Escape that was driven by Longoria but owned by Eva Brown, who he was living with.
"We had consent from the owner of the vehicle, and a warrant," Assistant Attorney General Andrew Bauch said. The defense argued that Longoria’s relationship with Brown which allowed him to use the Escape gave him "an expectation of privacy."
Wicks and co-defender Tim Frieden indicated the defense will be filing motions in August, seeking to suppress that evidence.
Kitts said she will also allow the prosecution to use one photo of DeBolt as she appeared last July to be entered into evidence. She also said attorneys will be mailed information about how Barton County selects its jury pools, and she lifted a seal on a defense motion that seeks tapes made of Longoria as he worked undercover for the GBPD as a drug buyer.
