Tristyn Bailey murder: Aiden Fucci's team bids to hide evidence like satanic drawings, knives from jury
DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA: A motion hearing in the case of Aiden Fucci, 16, who was charged with killing his classmate, Tristyn Bailey, in 2021 led to a variety of rulings. Court records claimed that Fucci's legal team wants some pieces of evidence to be kept from the jury's view. Mystery drawings and "several knives" obtained by police are among those pieces of evidence.
The Florida State Attorney's Office filed a motion requesting a six-person jury, while Fucci's side submitted a motion asking for a 12-member jury for the trial. Judge Lee Smith took the state's side during the hearing on Friday, January 20, and reportedly approved a jury of six people to hear the case. Due to his age at the time of the crime, Fucci is reportedly not eligible for the death penalty but still faces the possibility of life in prison. Bailey, 13, was allegedly murdered by 14-year-old Fucci. Motions on what should and shouldn't be shown to the jury were also discussed at the hearing.
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The defense team for Fucci reportedly contended that some pieces of evidence were irrelevant to the crime and would unjustly sway the jury's verdict. Rosemarie Peoples, Fucci's attorney, stated that she only wanted the jury to examine autopsy images of the slain victim because she claimed those were relevant to Fucci's first-degree murder accusation.
The medical examiner reportedly determined that 108 of Bailey's 114 wounds were not fatal when taken individually, but they were fatal when taken collectively. Judge Smith ruled that the pictures will be shown to the jury. Additionally, Fucci's legal team requested that the jurors not be shown satanic artwork discovered in the teen's room.
The sketches and several other knives that were taken as evidence were discovered by the detectives during their investigation in Fucci's bedroom. The defense team for Fucci claimed that he didn't create the sketches and that another child gave them to him as a gift.
The judge concluded that the collection of knives discovered in Fucci's home was not relevant to the case, and the state agreed not to use the drawings at the trial. However, images of two knives that were allegedly on the person, including one discovered in a nearby pond, were allowed to be shown in court. Additionally, Fucci's attorney asked that all cellphone evidence be excluded.
Court records state six cell phones were taken during the investigation. Fucci's attorney argued that the court shouldn't permit "text messages, images, photos, music, videos, and song lyrics because the items are unduly prejudicial and would be used by the State for the primary purpose of inflaming the passions of the jurors," as per The Sun.
The motion went on to state, "In the alternative, Defendant seeks an order to have the State of Florida identifying what precisely they intend to introduce into evidence from the individual cell phones in evidence," as per the outlet. The judge reportedly chose not to rule on the motion, giving the state the chance to examine and choose precisely what it intended to present as evidence from the cellphone documents.
Finally, Fucci's legal team reportedly attempted to question three people, including two teenagers, but all three have so far declined to divulge any information. The judge granted Peoples' request to be allowed to compel their cooperation for the adult but deferred taking the depositions of the two teenagers until after the trial.
Fucci is being tried as an adult despite his age and is currently being held in the Duval County jail while he awaits the outcome of his case. The pretrial hearing is not expected to take place until after jury selection for the trial, which is set to start on February 6.