the murder next door (2)

Self-defense, claims teen suspect
By Brandon Stahl, Fergus Falls Daily Journal

A Pelican Rapids teen facing second-degree murder charges for stabbing his roommate in April filed a motion last week through his attorney to have the charges dismissed.

Juan Martin Morales, 18, claimed that his Miranda rights were violated when he was interviewed by a sheriff's investigator shortly after he was taken into custody.

In the motion, where he is seeking to suppress evidence and statements made during the interrogation, he also argued that his right to counsel and his rights to freedom from self-incrimination were violated.

Morales's attorney, Dan Madsen, also filed a motion on May 11 asserting that his client would argue that the stabbing was committed in self-defense.

Madsen could not be reached for comment.

Morales, who is being held in Otter Tail County Jail on $1 million bond, is accused of stabbing 18-year-old Noe Israel Morales Ramos, known by his friends as "Ernesto," following a fight the two had in the early morning hours of April 17.

It's not clear what impact it would have on the case if a judge allows the suppression of Morales's statements.

According to police reports and an interview with The Daily Journal, one of Morales's roommates, Gavino Pacheco, learned second-hand from another roommate that Morales came downstairs and admitted to the stabbing before fleeing.

"He said Miguel came downstairs and said I have to go," Pacheco said. "He said [Morales told him], 'I just killed Ernesto."

According to the court charge, during the interrogation with the sheriff's deputy, Morales admitted to fighting with Ramos, but said that Ramos stabbed himself.

Morales said the blood found on his shirt was caused when "some others" hit him in the nose.

The court charge did not say that he confessed to the stabbing.

A person he did allegedly tell about the stabbing, Elmer Morales, is being held in the jail on $100,000 bond as a witness.

According to court records, Morales is an illegal immigrant from either Mexico or Guatemala and is being held in the jail so that he won't be deported.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division said that if Morales were released he would be taken into custody and would not be able to make his court appearances.

The hearing to decide the dismissal request is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 6.