CLEVELAND — Attorneys representing Tevin Biles-Thomas, the man accused of a triple homicide at an Airbnb on New Year's Eve, filed several motions in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court last week claiming that statements he made to police were gathered during a coerced interrogation and that a grand jury who indicted him did not have the evidence to do so.
His attorneys wrote in court documents that numerous witnesses have failed to identify Biles-Thomas as the shooter involved and any in-court identification of Biles-Thomas could be tainted due to the extensive coverage the case has garnered from international media. Biles-Thomas is the brother of famed gymnastic gold-medalist Simone Biles.
According to court records, his attorneys also seek to suppress statements made to police after Biles-Thomas exercised his rights during a "deceptive and coercive interrogation" as well as to a grand jury because the state "failed to provide legally accurate warnings" before questioning him in front of a grand jury.
Also, the motion seeks to suppress any statements Biles-Thomas made to authorities in Georgia because those were made without "legally accurate warnings."
In another court filing, Biles-Thomas' attorneys seek to have testimony from the grand jury disclosed to justify why he was indicted when the evidence provided in the case "arises to no more than a mere rumor."
Lastly, Biles-Thomas' attorneys filed a motion to disqualify county prosecutors from working the case and to appoint a special prosecutor because they may be later called on as witnesses to testify about a perjury charge in the case or to respond to the motion to suppress.
Biles-Thomas was jailed in September and held in jail in lieu of a $1 million bond. He's facing a multitude of charges including murder, attempted murder and felonious assault.
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