Attorneys extensively questioned Concord police officers in court Monday about the steps they took to arrest and detain a city man accused of attempting to kill his wife in a car crash this past winter.
Paul Loukedes is arguing that incriminating statements he made to officers before he was read his Miranda rights should be thrown out and not considered by a jury at his trial, which is planned for next month in Merrimack County Superior Court.
As the defense moves to suppress, prosecutors have objected, stating that Miranda protections did not apply because Loukedes’s spontaneously made the statements. Judge Richard McNamara, who presided over Monday’s motion to suppress hearing, will issue a written order at a later date.
Police reports include several statements Loukedes made on the ride to the Concord Police Department and while in a holding cell at the station to include: “I did not kill my wife did I” and “I hope my wife is okay.”
Loukedes, 47, was taken into custody on the evening of Feb. 13 at his 31 Cricket Lane home, roughly a quarter of a mile from where prosecutors say he purposefully crashed a 2011 Ford Fusion during a domestic dispute. Witnesses reported that a man had fled the crash scene, while a woman had sought help for her injuries from a stranger at a nearby residence.
Concord police officer Steven Martel, who handcuffed Loukedes that night, testified Monday afternoon that he was tasked with transporting Loukedes to the police station to begin the booking process. He said he did not review the Miranda form with Loukedes even though Loukedes continued to “blurt out” things while being detained.
“My job is the booking and to fill out the paperwork,” Martel said. “I was trying not to ruin someone else’s case.”
Other officers were gathering evidence at the crash scene, interviewing witnesses and speaking with the victim at the hospital while Martel supervised Loukedes at the station’s holding cells. During the 2½ that followed the arrest, Loukedes fell in and out of sleep and made comments such as “I was not driving” and “did I kill my wife,” Martel recalled, noting he didn’t engage Loukedes with a response.
Officer Sarah Wyszynski ultimately responded to the station to question Loukedes close to midnight. She testified Monday that Loukedes had alcohol on his breath, but that he appeared coherent and able to understand her questions as she reviewed the Miranda form line-by-line.
But public defender Jeremy Clemans repeatedly questioned Wyszynski under oath about whether Loukedes was really in a condition to understand his rights and waive them. Loukedes had told police he’d been prescribed medication that made him “loopy,” and authorities were aware of his prior hospital stays for mental health issues, Clemans summarized, while also pressing Wyszynski on Loukedes’s state of intoxication that night.
“He didn’t seem highly intoxicated,” Wyszynski responded, noting she smelled alcohol but she couldn’t specify the strength of the odor.
Loukedes faces charges of attempted murder, criminal threatening, reckless conduct, criminal mischief, conduct after an accident, operating after suspension, resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated, in addition to three motor vehicle-related violations in connection with the incident.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319, adandrea@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @_ADandrea.)