BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Despite Joseph Paul Franklin's claim that a prosecutor tricked him into a confession, a judge decided Thursday that the serial killer knew exactly what he was doing.
The judge's ruling means a jury will hear the taped statement that Mr. Franklin made last year during a conversation about the 1980 shooting deaths of two teen-age cousins in Bond Hill.
In the statement, which he gave to assistant county prosecutor Melissa Powers, Mr. Franklin made several comments linking himself to the crime.
But his defense attorneys asked Judge Ralph Winkler of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to bar the statements from Mr. Franklin's trial, saying Ms. Powers manipulated him.
They argued that Ms. Powers never read Mr. Franklin his constitutional rights and never told him his comments could be used against him at a trial.
Judge Winkler, however, said Mr. Franklin invited Ms. Powers to visit him on death row in Missouri and knew that his statements could lead to criminal charges.
"The defendant has also suggested that somehow Franklin confessed because assistant prosecutor Powers is attractive," Judge Winkler said Thursday. "The court dismisses this argument for the reason that, as far as I know, there is no constitutional right to an unattractive interviewer."
The judge said Mr. Franklin's extensive criminal history suggests he was well aware of his rights. He said Mr. Franklin spoke for almost five hours and volunteered far more information than Ms. Powers requested.
Judge Winkler also noted the first words Mr. Franklin allegedly spoke to Ms. Powers: "You know I did it."
"Franklin was in total control of the course of the interview," the judge said. "That Franklin was anxious to voluntarily talk to Powers is evident."
The judge said Mr. Franklin, who has been linked to 18 racially motivated murders across the country, is familiar with his rights and the legal system.
Mr. Franklin is charged with shooting to death Dante Evans Brown and Darrell Lane as the boys walked to a grocery store 18 years ago. If convicted, he would not face a death sentence because Ohio did not have the death penalty at the time.
