WICHITA, Kansas -- Prosecutors have subpoenaed the interview KSN did with Adam Longoria, the suspect in the Alicia DeBolt case.
Days before Longoria was named as a person of interest in the murder DeBolt he sat down with KSN's Kevin Wheeler.
For about 20 minutes Longoria laid out his version of the events on the night DeBolt was killed.
"Alicia's ex-boyfriend gave me her number, which I didn't know it was, and told me to text her and tell her we were having a party and to mention who all was going to be there," Longoria said during the interview.
We had two attorneys, both who have tried murder cases look at the interview.
"I see why they want this," said Stephen Joseph, a former prosecutor who is now a defense attorney.
"That's a wonderful piece of prosecution evidence,” he told KSN. “They'll want that because they'll pursue every lead that they can based on what his statements are and then if they can prove all that is not true then the practice would be to play that for the jury."
Joseph also points out prosecutors may also likely capitalize on Longoria’s admission that DeBolt had called Longoria’s phone.
"Obviously there's a relationship going on there," said Joseph. "Why is this 14 year old texting this guy several times to the extent that his wife, as he calls her, intercepted the call and told her to leave her alone."
But Dan Monnat, a defense attorney, argues the fact that Longoria did the interview at all may play in his favor.
"A willingness to submit oneself to questioning and declare one's innocence by law enforcement, a willingness to declare ones innocence before the media along with the presumption of innocence all have to be considered by the prosecution and ultimately by the jury," said Monnat.
And it may ultimately be a jury that decides if Longoria was telling the truth to KSN.
KSN is not challenging the subpoena, which seeks unaired portions of our interview. Station management says Longoria sought out the interview, then changed the dynamics when he left town in a stolen truck. As a result, KSN maintains Longoria's expectation of privacy changed, and the case does not fall under the spirit of the journalists' shield law.
