Decision delayed on whether to toss confession of Rowan Ford's stepfather

KY3 reports that more testimony was heard today in Waynesville today on whether a confession given to authorities in 2007 should be admitted as evidence in the murder trial of David Wesley Spears, Stella.

An expert testified today that Newton County Sheriff's deputies wore down Spears and guided a recollection of the events that occurred leading to the rape and murder of Spears' nine-year-old stepdaughter, Rowan Ford:

David Spears of Stella sat quietly, listening to the defense's witness on the stand, Richard Leo, a sociologist from the University of San Francisco. The defense says Leo is a specialist in criminology and, in particular, interrogation tactics.


Leo was able to review this case, interview Spears, and give his opinion of what happened in November 2007. Leo concluded Spears suppressed memories of what happened on Nov. 3, the night that Rowan died in Barry County, and used what police fed him to make his own conclusions -- not nessessarily the facts; it's something he calls a "persuaded confession."

Leo said the officers presumed Spears was guilty to begin with, and it led them to build a biased case against him over a week of interviews.

"The longer you interrogate someone, there's more stress, and you get a persuaded confession," he told Circuit Judge Tracy Storie.

Defense attorneys say Spears later admitted guilt, saying, "Any way you look at it, I didn't save her.

Spears' trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 10, 2011. The other man charged with the murder, Spears' friend, Chris Collings, Wheaton, is set to go to trial next January.