KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The state of Missouri recommends the court deny Kylr Yust’s motion to dismiss the murder and corpse abandonment charges brought against him in the deaths of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.
Yust’s defense team filed the motion to dismiss on the grounds the state failed “to investigate exculpatory evidence” in the case, which it says is a violation of the United States and Missouri constitutions.
His lawyers also allege the case became “suspect driven” when an officer conducted investigation outside his job duties and implied Yust’s guilt in “extra-jurisdictional” interviews with witnesses.
In a response filed Wednesday, the state said none of the alleged failures to investigate rise to the level necessary to dismiss the case against Yust.
On the matter of the officer the defense says operated outside his capacity in law enforcement, the state highlighted that each witness the officer spoke to had already spoken to Belton police and FBI agents.
Each witness will also be cross-examined during the trial, giving the defense the opportunity to question any inconsistencies between interviews.
On those grounds, the state recommended the court deny the defense’s motion.
The state also recommended the court deny Yust’s “motion in limine,” which would mean his previous “bad acts” would not be admissible in court.
Those bad acts include actions alleged by Kopetsky herself in a restraining order she filed just days before she went missing, as well as a previous conviction in a domestic assault case in Jackson County.
The defense also alleges entrapment related to a wire tap set up by the FBI, on which Yust is recorded confessing to killing Kopetsky, and filed a motion to suppress.
The state says that evidence is also admissible since Yust’s confession was made voluntarily and without inducement both while the witness was wearing a wire and while she was not.
A judge will rule on these pre-trial motions Thursday in Cass County court.
Earlier Wednesday, a senior judge ruled there would be no change in judge for the case.
The defense filed for a change of judge after it claims it received an anonymous letter alleging connections between the case’s judge, William Collins, and the victims’ families.
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41 Action News is committed to bringing you complete coverage of the trial of Kylr Yust, the man accused in the murders of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions. Visit kshb.com/yusttrial for all our stories, case details, timeline and more.
