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November 16, 2004
Girl's journal barred from use in parents' child-abuse trials
TUCSON, AZ. - A judge has ruled that the journal of a Marana teenager who committed suicide can't be used as evidence in the child-abuse trials of her parents.
But the prosecution will be allowed to use statements received by police that Katie Sabin told friends that she feared she was pregnant by her father and would commit suicide if she were.
Sabin, a 16-year-old sophomore at Marana High School, fatally shot herself at home on April 30.
Her parents - Ricky Lee Sabin and Denise Marie Sabin - were later arrested and charged with child abuse.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Nanette Warner on Monday set trial dates of Feb. 1 for Ricky Lee Sabin and Feb. 15 for Denise Sabin.
Warner ruled that the girl's journal cannot be used as evidence because police didn't obtain a search warrant before they found and read it.
But prosecutors said it still may be possible to obtain a conviction in the case without having the journal as evidence.
A grand jury indicted Ricky Lee Sabin in May on nine felony counts, including one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
Denise Sabin was indicted on three counts, including child abuse. Police suspect she was aware sexual abuse had occurred and failed to protect her daughter by reporting the abuse.
Posted by Nealus at November 16, 2004 08:50 PM
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