A judge has declined to prevent private Facebook messages from being considered during a trial of two people charged in an Evansville, Ind., marina fire.
The Evansville Courier & Press reports the judge denied the motion to suppress the messages and evidence from resulting search warrants in the trial of 57-year-old William Marver and 49-year-old Brenda Harris. The longtime friends are accused of burning Marver’s houseboat for insurance money.
Investigators say the February fire caused $4.5 million in damage to the marina dock and five boats, with four of them capsizing. Marver and Harris are charged with conspiracy to commit arson, conspiracy to commit arson for hire and arson with intent to defraud.
Defense attorneys argued that authorities had no proof there might be evidence in the messages before gathering them was authorized.
Topics Legislation
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