PDF: Gann motion to compel
Nearly two years after a man allegedly strangled the life out of his young wife then tried to take his own, the Hixson resident is poised to be the first person to stand trial this year in Hamilton County for first-degree murder.
Kenneth Gann’s biggest obstacle at trial will be the confession he gave to police as he lay in his hospital bed, recovering from the suicide attempt that left medical personnel wondering if he would live.
Mr. Gann admitted to investigators that he killed his wife, Robyn Burns Gann, in March 2008, then placed a plastic bag over his head as she lay dead nearby in their Hixson home. Mrs. Gann was 25 at the time of her death.
For months, Mr. Gann’s defense attorney, Dan Ripper, tried to get the confession suppressed, arguing that police had overstepped their bounds in convincing a suspect to talk when he obviously did not have the “mental capability” to waive his rights.
Authorities already had made arrangements for Mr. Gann to receive a psychological evaluation at Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute when he gave his confession.
“No one can give consent to giving a statement if they’re on their way to a mental institution,” Mr. Ripper argued during past court hearings.
Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman, however, has ruled that the jury will hear Mr. Gann’s audio-recorded confession during the trial.
According to his written order, Judge Steelman said Mr. Gann’s demeanor during the confession, which comes across as calm, is “the strongest evidence establishing that the defendant’s mental and intellectual capacity was sufficient to legally waive his rights.”
Both the United States and Tennessee constitutions prevent law enforcement from compelling self-incriminating statements from people who are accused of crimes. Police cannot use incriminating statements unless the accused has been informed of his or her constitutional rights.
Whether someone has “knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently” waived his rights and given a legitimate statement to police is determined by a “totality of the circumstances under which the right was waived,” court precedent states.
Others bolstered Judges Steelman’s opinion months ago at a hearing in which the audio-recording was played for the court.
“Mr. Gann knew what we were talking about,” said Chattanooga Police Detective Justin Kilgore, who took the confession at Mr. Gann’s hospital bedside.
The treating medical doctor, a clinical neurologist, also testified at the hearing that Mr. Gann’s mental state was “normal” just minutes before the confession.
Mr. Ripper has declined to discuss further what the defense strategy will be in light of the confession. Prosecutors also have declined to discuss the case since it is still pending.
After Mrs. Gann’s death, investigators said they found a dug-out area in the house’s crawlspace, where they said they believed Mr. Gann planned to bury his wife’s body. Mr. Gann told authorities later that the space was part of a “home improvement project.”