TV Footage Thrown Out of Lester Street Murder Trial

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Defense attorneys for the accused Lester Street murderer said they scored a small victory in court this morning. A Shelby County judge will not allow the taped confession that aired on the A&E show "The First 48." But prosecutors said they still have a strong case.

The defense team has filed dozens of motions in court, in the months leading up to the trial. Tuesday, they asked a judge to toss out their client's taped confession, preventing prosecutors from showing jurors portions of the video that aired nationally.

After much discussion and consideration, Criminal Court Judge James Beasley said he was very much concerned with the edited and sometimes staged video production.

On the cable crime TV show, "The First 48," Jessie Dotson admitted he was responsible for the 2008 murders on Lester Street, Memphis' worst mass murder in more than 15 years.

"It's a TV show. TV shows have never been admissible in trials in this country, and they shouldn't be in this trial," said defense attorney Gerald Skahan.

The defense team for Jessie Dotson made a motion Tuesday, asking a judge to prohibit any videotaped interviews, including those of witnesses, during the trial.

Judge James Beasley said, "I have a real problem with the fact that what we're dealing with is an edited, sometimes staged production."

Beasley said he is very much concerned because the taped interviews are not available in its entirety, and jurors wouldn't be able to see the missing portions, which could be favorable to Dotson's defense. Beasley ruled to not to allow the video in as evidence, under any circumstance.

"I'm bothered by the fact that it's edited, its not in the control of law enforcement, its not in control of the state, it's in control of Hollywood," Beasley said loudly.

Defense attorney Gerald Skahan said one witness who appeared on those tapes talked about Cecil Dotson, Jessie's brother who was murdered, owed a drug debt of about $300,000. Another witness talks about Cecil being in trouble with a gang saying a "black out team" could have been sent to eliminate him and his entire family.

"Officers of the Memphis Police Department investigating this case had videotapes of witnesses indicating that other people had a reason, a motive to commit this crime, and it's destroyed," Skahan said.

Prosecutor Ray Lepone denied ever destroying any evidence, stating the videotapes were property of the show, not of the Memphis Police Department or the Shelby County District Attorney's Office. He continued by saying he was only interested in using the taped confession, if Dotson took the stand and denied any killings.

Still, prosecutors said the state has enough proof, without the tapes, to try Jessie Dotson.

"That tape will not be the basis for our case, if that was all we had, we wouldn't have a case. There is evidence, there are people, there are live witnesses," Prosecutor Reggie Henderson said.

Both sides will be back in court later this month. Defense attorneys are now trying to re-activate cell phones of the victims to see if there is any information in text messages that would be helpful to the defense team.

35-year old Jessie Dotson is accused of killing 6 people, including 2 children, in March 2008 at a home on Lester Street in the Binghampton area. Three children survived the slayings.

Dotson is accused of killing his brother during an argument, then killing three other adults and two of the brother's children. The adults were shot while the children were beaten and stabbed. Three other young children were critically injured but survived.

The surviving children were hospitalized after the attacks, and police records say one of the survivors identified Dotson as the killer.

Dotson awaits a scheduled trial on September 20th on six counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.