Staff Report
Judge Judith Nakamura ruled last week that some evidence against Kevin Boyar, the student accused of bringing weapons on campus last year, will not be used when his case goes to court.
Nakamura said statements Boyar made after his arrest will be suppressed and that the weapons police recovered also won't be used as evidence.
UNM Police arrested Boyar without incident May 6 after receiving an anonymous tip that he had guns in his dorm room. The caller also mentioned Boyar had made threats that referred to the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, according to UNMPD.
UNMPD recovered the weapons from Boyar's mother's home.
Boyar is charged with a petty misdemeanor of tampering with evidence and four counts of carrying a firearm on campus. He pleaded not guilty to the charges May 14.
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Janet Blair, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court spokeswoman, said Boyar's statements were held not admissible, since he was improperly arrested.
To arrest a person on a misdemeanor charge, police must either see the crime take place or have an arrest warrant signed by a judge, Blair said.
"Neither occurred in the Boyar case," she said. "This was a misdemeanor that did not take place in the presence of the officer. There was no arrest warrant and he should not have been arrested, so any statements he made were not allowable."
UNMPD told the Daily Lobo last year that Boyar confessed during questioning that he had guns in his dorm room.
The search warrant used to recover the weapons from Boyar's parents' home was also executed incorrectly, Blair said.
UNMPD received permission from Boyar's mother to search his bedroom.
However, Nakamura said Boyar is the only one who can legally give permission for police to enter and search his room, even though the room is in his parents' home, Blair said.
"The mother had no authority to let (UNMPD) go into his room and confiscate his weapons, so (the weapons) can not be used as evidence since it was done incorrectly," she said.
Before the pretrial proceedings can be concluded, the district attorney and Boyar's attorney will turn in briefings on additional pending motions before the end of this month. Check the Daily Lobo for updates later this week.
