Four defendants accused of involvement in the plot to rob La Placita market that left one person dead are set to go to trial next year, and a judge will rule before then on the legality of the arrest and interrogation of the man accused of firing the shot that killed Jose Cruz.

Attorneys involved in the case filed briefs last week laying out their respective positions regarding the arrest and interview of Jonny Alexander Reyes-Martinez, 31, of Nashville, who is accused of causing the death of Cruz, 31, of Bowling Green as Cruz attempted to intervene in the March 17, 2017, robbery of the store on Morgantown Road.

Reyes-Martinez is charged with murder through use of a firearm during a crime of violence, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to carry or possess a firearm during a crime of violence and illegal possession of a firearm.

Four other defendants have been accused of conspiracy and other criminal charges related to the La Placita incident, with one person having pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Reyes-Martinez’s court- appointed attorney filed a motion to suppress both evidence seized from his vehicle when he was arrested in Kansas in 2017 and statements he gave during a 2018 interview with Bowling Green Police Department and FBI detectives.

In July, a suppression hearing was held in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green featuring testimony from the Kansas Highway Patrol trooper who arrested Reyes-Martinez during a 2017 traffic stop and from FBI Special Agent Sean Laferte, who participated in the interview of Reyes-Martinez in 2018 at U.S. Penitentiary Leavenworth in Kansas.

James Earhart, the attorney for Reyes-Martinez, argues that the search of Reyes-Martinez’s car by Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Jerrett Ranieri, which led to the discovery of ammunition hidden in a detergent box in the trunk and firearms under the hood, was unlawful.

The traffic stop was made due to a cracked windshield and Ranieri issued a warning and told Reyes-Martinez he was free to leave, according to prior testimony, but Earhart argues that Ranieri then prolonged the stop without having any reasonable suspicion that Reyes-Martinez and his passenger were involved in any illegal activity.

“An officer may expand the scope of the stop only if the officer has reasonable, articulable suspicion that the person is engaged in criminal activity,” Earhart said in his brief.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford said in her brief that the search was lawful, saying that Ranieri asked Reyes-Martinez and his passenger whether there were any guns or drugs in the vehicle and asked for and received consent to search the car.

“Based upon his observations of the two during the traffic stop, Trooper Ranieri suspected that Reyes-Martinez and his passenger might be engaged in narcotics trafficking as he detailed in his police report,” Ford said in her brief.

In the police report, Ranieri noted that Reyes-Martinez and his passenger had nervous body language and the vehicle was traveling on a highway known by police as a route for drug trafficking to a city known as a large source for illegal drugs.

Reyes-Martinez and his passenger attempted to flee on foot during the search, but were located and arrested by law enforcement, records show.

When the BGPD and FBI interviewed Reyes-Martinez the following year, he was jailed and under indictment in a separate case.

A transcript of the interview shows Reyes-Martinez confessing to his involvement in the robbery and the shooting, but that occurs after he declines to answer some questions from police and asks at another point what would happen if he were to ask for a lawyer.

Earhart argues that Reyes-Martinez was not advised of his rights until after questioning began and that he invoked his right to an attorney, only for the interview to continue for about another 21/2 hours.

“Defendant’s invocation of his right to counsel was unequivocal and – equally as important – was recognized and acknowledged as such by the interviewing officers,” Earhart said in his brief. “All questioning should have ceased until an attorney was made available.”

Ford argues in her filing that Reyes-Martinez simply declined to answer whether someone got hurt during the La Placita robbery, without asserting his right to a lawyer.

Police pursued another line of questioning and the interview continued.

“Being evasive and reluctant to talk is different from invoking the right to remain silent,” Ford said. “As the investigating officers had previously assured him, he could pick and choose the questions he answered, and they moved on from the subject.”

– Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.