Attorney’s office pushes back on motions to suppress Bowman murder evidence
(ABC 6 News) – A former Mayo Clinic doctor’s murder case hit a new legal hitch this week.
On June 6, Connor Bowman’s attorneys filed several motions, totaling 28 pages, in an attempt to prevent key evidence from being used in trial.
On Tuesday, Aug. 13, the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office requested much more clarity in those motions before Bowman’s next hearing in early September.
“In Paragraph #2, you allege that the state presented inadmissible evidence. Please
articulate what evidence is alleged to have been inadmissible,” one section reads. “In Paragraph #3, you allege that the grand jury was improperly instructed. Please articulate what instructions were improper.”
The letter continues through eight specific motions filed in June, as well as mentions of medical documents across several suppression attempts.
The letter is embedded in full below:
Bowman’s omnibus hearing is currently set for Sept. 4.
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(ABC 6 News) – A former Mayo Clinic doctor’s defense filed three motions Thursday to suppress evidence in Connor Bowman’s murder trial.
Bowman was previously scheduled to appear for an omnibus hearing June 11, on 1st-degree murder charges following the death of his wife, Betty Bowman, from the toxic effects of a gout medicine.
On Friday, Olmsted County Court records removed the June 11 date and indicated that a new hearing would be scheduled.
RELATED: Mayo doctor accused of poisoning wife charged with 1st-degree murder – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com
On June 6, Bowman’s attorneys filed several motions, totaling 28 pages, in an attempt to prevent key evidence from being used in trial.
One motion targets information the University of Kansas provided to Rochester police.
Bowman worked as a poison specialist for the University, which used his internet search history to tell police Bowman was researching colchicine, which is used to treat gout, even though no one at the university had any queries about that drug, according to court documents.
Court documents allege that a search of Bowman’s work laptop, provided by the University, turned up searches for “internet browsing history: can it be used in court?” “Police track package delivery”, and “delete amazon data police” — as well as a calculation of a lethal dose of colchicine for someone who weighed as much as Betty Bowman, and hidden purchases.
Bowman’s defense claims the warrants used to search the laptop were not specific and violated Minnesota Health Record standards.
A second motion attempts to suppress records of Bowman’s Mayo Clinic internet use and access to records and emails, stating that the warrants were again, not specific, and did not clearly identify a connection between the defendant’s online activity and a particular crime.
“The warrant failed to specify that a crime had actually been committed,” it reads. “Instead, the warrant stated that the police were conducting a ‘death investigation.’ A death investigation is not a homicide investigation.”
The motion further argues that Rochester police and Olmsted County made no attempt to protect physician-patient privilege or avoid third-party patient records, violating several health record policies.
The third motion seeks to suppress all evidence gleaned from searches of the Bowmans’ residence on Sandy Beach Lane SW, claiming that again, the warrants stated they were part of a death investigation, not a homicide investigation, and allowed law enforcement to do “exploratory rummaging.”
Bowman’s new omnibus hearing had not been rescheduled Friday morning.