May 22, 2008 2:48 pm US/Eastern
Judge Makes Key Rulings In "Joe Cool" Murder Case
MIAMI (CBS) ―
Defense attorneys in the "Joe Cool" charter fishing boat murder case have been dealt a big blow by a federal judge.
Wednesday, the judge ruled on two key motions. In the first, the judge ruled that statements made by a jailhouse informant, about the involvement of two suspects accused of murdering four people on the "Joe Cool" are admissible in court during rebuttal testimony for impeachment purposes.
Prosecutors say Guillermo Zarabozo and Kirby Logan Archer hired the boat for a trip to Bimini and tried to divert it to Cuba, but fatally shot the captain of the fishing boat, his wife and two deckhands.
In April, attorneys for Zarabozo asked the judge to prevent jurors from hearing what he allegedly told a jailhouse informant; that co-defendant Kirby Archer killed the boat's captain, Jake Branam, and crew because they refused to take the men to Cuba instead of the originally agreed-upon destination of Bimini.
According to the court documents released in April, Zarabozo said the pair wanted to reach Cuba because the Caribbean island doesn't grant extraditions to the United States. Zarabozo also supposedly said he threw the bodies into the ocean and cleaned up the boat.
Wednesday's ruling means that prosecutors can introduce the jailhouse statements made by Zarabozo to the informant during rebuttal, if they feel Zarabozo isn't being truthful, if he's allowed to testify at trial.
The judge has also denied a request by Zarabozo's attorney to suppress evidence seized from Zarabozo's house.
That evidence included receipts for a Glock 9mm magazine and four boxes of 9mm bullets purchased from Lou's Gun Shop and Police Supply in Hialeah. FBI investigators have said that four spent shell casings found on the "Joe Cool" came from a 9mm Glock handgun, which is the same size and brand purchased by Zarabozo.
Zarabozo and Archer could face the death penalty if convicted of federal charges including murder, kidnapping and seizing control of a ship by force. They have pleaded not guilty and claim that Branam and his crew were killed by Cuban pirates who attacked the boat at sea. They also claim a third boat picked up the hijackers who left the defendants in a life raft.
The murder charges were filed without bodies, guns, witnesses or confessions but prosecutors believe there is enough circumstantial evidence to prove that the crew of the 'Joe Cool' was killed at sea and their bodies dumped overboard by the two men.
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