BY JIM HALEY
Herald Writer
A taped confession and some other statements will be allowed in the first-degree murder trial of a Seattle teenager accused of killing a classmate, a judge ruled Friday.
The decision came after Snohomish County prosecutors asked Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne to change his mind about a March ruling excluding all statements to police by Jenson Hugh Hankins.
The ruling is a major victory for prosecutors, who said Hankins’ own words are “critical to the state’s case” against the former Roosevelt High School football player accused of killing teammate John Jasmer, 16.
Hankins, 17, and Joshua David Goldman, 19, are scheduled to have separate trials next month on first-degree murder charges in Jasmer’s beating and stabbing death. They’re accused of luring him Aug. 21 to an isolated spot on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, killing him and putting him in a grave that was dug the day before.
Court documents indicate the two were taking revenge on Jasmer for allegedly having sex with Hankins’ girlfriend.
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