SCOTTSVILLE — Days out from a scheduled trial, an Allen County man charged in connection with the death of his father is seeking to prevent an interview he gave to investigators from being shown to the jury.

Braxton Whitney, 26, Donovan Sutton, 25, and Melissa Scott, 45, all of Scottsville, have each been charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

The three are accused of conspiring to cause the death of Larry Whitney Jr., 40, of Scottsville, who was found May 16, 2017, at his home on Bays Bend Road with an apparent knife wound to his chest.

The three co-defendants, who were indicted in 2019 by a grand jury, are scheduled to face a jury trial beginning Feb. 19 in Allen Circuit Court.

The indictments do not name the person suspected of causing Larry Whitney’s fatal injury.

Before the trial begins, though, Allen Circuit Judge Mark Thurmond will have to rule on a motion from Whitney’s attorney, Taylor Broderick, requesting the suppression of an interview Whitney gave to the Allen County Sheriff’s Office on May 17, 2017, the day after his father’s death.

The officer who interviewed Whitney, then-Lt. Michael Wilson of the Allen County Sheriff’s Office, did not advise him of his rights during the interview at ACSO headquarters, and Broderick has argued that Whitney was in police custody during the 45-minute interview and should have been made aware of his right to not incriminate himself.

“Mr. Whitney made no confession, as he has nothing to confess, however, Mr. Whitney believes any and all statements obtained in violation of his rights should be suppressed,” Broderick said in a motion filed on Feb. 2.

A hearing was held Thursday on Broderick’s motion.

Allen County Commonwealth’s Attorney Corey Morgan contends that Whitney was free to leave during the interview and was not at any time in custody.

At Thursday’s hearing, Wilson testified that the sheriff’s office contacted Whitney to ask him to come to the office for an interview on May 17, 2017, the day after Whitney had been interviewed by then-ACSO Detective William Francis.

Answering questions from Morgan, Wilson testified that he did not inform Whitney of his rights because he approached his interview with Whitney in the manner of questioning a witness.

“There was never an intention on my behalf to charge (Whitney) or arrest him that day,” Wilson said.

Questioned by Thurmond, Wilson said that he was not aggressive or confrontational while questioning Whitney, and said that he informed Whitney he could leave at any time about 21 minutes into the 45-minute interview.

Under cross-examination from Broderick, Wilson said he had no reason to dispute that Whitney had come to the sheriff’s office from the viewing of his father’s body.

Wilson testified that, prior to the hearing, he reviewed the video footage of the interview up to the point when he told Whitney he was free to go, and that he could not recall explicitly telling Whitney “a lot of people don’t believe you” and that his story didn’t make sense.

Broderick asked Wilson how Whitney could have known he was not in custody on the day of the interview.

“He came there on his own, he was never informed that he had to stay there,” Wilson said.

Broderick argued that the circumstances surrounding the interview gave Whitney the impression that he was in custody until he was informed that he was not under arrest, saying that Wilson used “very blatant interrogation tactics” that included some emphatic gestures and occasionally standing over Whitney during questioning.

“From my 19-year-old client’s perspective, he was absolutely in custody,” Broderick said. “He did not feel free to leave and was not told he could leave.”

Morgan argued that, while the meeting was a police interrogation, it was relatively mild and short, and that Wilson did inform Whitney during the meeting that he was free to go and was not under arrest.

“Nothing was said or done that would make a reasonable person think ‘I can’t leave, I’m under arrest,’ ” Morgan said.