It’s a victory for Cristian Fernandez and his team as a judge throws out statements Fernandez made to detectives after he was read his Miranda rights, one of which included a confession.  What significance that will carry in the courtroom during the jury trial remains to be seen.

"There is no way Judge Cooper found any 12-year-old could have possibly understood what the police were doing with him," said Hank Coxe, one of Fernandez' attorneys.

Cooper did, however, deny a motion to suppress another statement Fernandez made before he was read his rights.  Coxe says he’s comfortable Judge Cooper made the right decision

"We appreciate the fact that Judge Cooper recognized what our nation's courts and the experts around this country have said for many years which is that children are different."

"We stand by the position that a 12-year old does not possess the ability to know and comprehend what is meant by their Constitutional Rights", said Buddy Schulz, another member of the defense team for Cristian Fernandez.

Coxe wouldn’t say what specifically was talked about in the now inadmissible statements nor would he comment on how this decision would change the way Coxe and the rest of Fernandez' defense team approach the rest of the case.  We do know, however, that after denying the charges several times, Fernandez did confess to sexually assaulting his 5-year-old half brother.  Unless the state decides to appeal Judge Cooper's decision and wins, that confession will never see the inside of a courtroom.

WOKV legal expert Mark Rubin says he doesn't expect the state to appeal Judge Cooper's decision because he says they already have enough evidence to prosecute Cristian on the original charge of first-degree murder and the second case charging Cristian with sexual battery is just that -- secondary.

"This was really gravy, this second case."

Rubin says it's important to remember the context in which Cristian was interrogated, which was in a high-pressure situation with a bunch of people Cristian did not know and around whom he was not comfortable.

You have a 12-year-old child who is called into a business room in an environment that he's not familiar with, with lights and large people and questions being pointed towards him, it's a very intimidating environment to begin with for anybody, let alone a child," says Rubin.

The state now has 15 days to decide whether to appeal the decision but state attorney Mark Caliel told me they planned to have that decision ready at a status hearing scheduled for Monday.  Fernandez is scheduled to be tried on sexual battery charges on August 27th and then on first-degree murder charges on September 10th.

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