ORLANDO, Fla. – A hearing initially scheduled for Wednesday in the case of a suspected serial rapist in Windermere was postponed, but a court filing seeking to have key evidence tossed has been released.
Attorneys representing Darryl Patterson filed a 20-page motion asking for the bulk of evidence against their client to be thrown out.
According to the motion, the defense says everything taken by authorities during a 2015 search of Patterson's home should not be permitted at trial.
Authorities searched Patterson's home after several DVDs, purportedly showing Patterson having sex with unconscious women, were dropped off to police. Patterson's lawyers say a detective purposely misrepresented what was in the videos to boost probable cause to obtain a search warrant.
In a hearing last week, the defense also argued that the statute of limitations applies to their client because the videos were recorded years ago.
The state, however, disputed that reasoning.
"It is clearly the intent of the Legislature that, particularly in sex crimes, when things are found out later, the defendant shouldn't get the benefit of a statute of limitations that allows him to get away with something," a prosecutor said last week.
A judge postponed full judgment on the statute of limitations argument but ruled that the window of evidence would be smaller, putting the case against Patterson in jeopardy.
Wednesday's hearing comes less than a week before Patterson's trial is scheduled to begin at the Orange County Courthouse. But the judge postponed the trial until sometime next month. A new date for the hearing on the motion has not yet been scheduled.