Kosciusko County Superior Court I Judge Duane Huffer ruled on several motions to limit evidence yesterday in a hearing for a North Manchester man charged with the 2010 abduction of a woman and her daughter.
Bill E. Warren, 35, North Manchester, could face more than 400 years in prison if convicted of the 27 felonies from the incident.
Alan J. Zimmerman, Warren’s Wabash County attorney, filed multiple motions in limine, or a motion to limit evidence in the jury trial scheduled for Sept. 18-20.
Zimmerman filed five motions with Huffer: to exclude the prior conviction, to exclude other misconduct, to exclude the use of the word “victim,” to exclude testimony vouching, and to introduce rape shield evidence.
Huffer looked over the motions and gave his ruling on each Thursday morning.
In regards to the motion to exclude the prior conviction of criminal confinement he granted the motion. The jury cannot hear that Warren has a prior conviction for criminal confinement.
On the motion to exclude other misconduct, Huffer said he saw no reason why the motion should not be granted. Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton cannot use books and pictures to show other misconduct to the jury.
Huffer additionally granted the motion to eliminate the testimony of vouching. This means that Hampton cannot use additional testimony or techniques to vouch for the credibility of a witness.
But Huffer denied the requests for the exclusion of the word “victim” and the introduction of rape shield evidence.
While Huffer denied the request to not allow the word “victim” to be used, he did inform both parties to be cautious on the use of the word. He encouraged both sides to use the surname of the person they are referring to.
Huffer also denied the introduction of rape shield evidence that Zimmerman wanted to use in court. In this case Zimmerman wanted to be able to use the victim’s other personal relationship as evidence in court.
Warren is charged with 27 felonies stemming from an Aug. 30, 2010, incident where he allegedly abducted a woman and her daughter, locked them in the trunk of his car, then sexually assaulted the mother and fled from police. Warren is facing charges of strangulation, sexual battery, criminal confinement, battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person under the age of 14 and resisting law enforcement.
