Sherman trial set for April start

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Maxwell Sherman’s statements to police and identification from a witness are admissible evidence for his murder trial, said Acting Supreme Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz at a pre-trial hearing on March 23. Sherman, 19, is accused of murdering Lauren Daverin-Gresham, 18, on a Rockville Centre footbridge in August 2013.

Berkowitz reviewed the evidence in the case, including statements Sherman made to the police on two separate days before he was arrested and the witness who said he saw a redheaded man standing over Daverin-Gresham and brought in a sketch he drew. The witness later identified Sherman out of a photo lineup. “Those statements are admissible, and the photo identification is admissible,” said Berkowitz.

Sherman’s attorney, William Petrillo, had previously challenged the admission of these pieces of evidence. He called the police lineup that the witness picked Sherman out of “unduly suggestive,” because Sherman was the only person in the lineup not looking straight ahead and the background of his photo was brighter than the others.

Assistant District Attorney Everett Witherell, who is prosecuting the case, said that the men in the photos all looked like Sherman, and that the lineup was handled like any other.

Berkowitz said that Sherman continued to speak to police after his Miranda rights were read to him. She said Sherman understood his rights and asked if was under arrest while he was speaking to the police. “He had been arrested prior to this on other occasions and had understood his rights,” said Berkowitz. “And when he stated, ‘Now am I under arrest,’ he clearly understood that he was under arrest.”

The judge also said that Sherman’s duffle bag and his DNA samples could also be used as evidence.

The trial is scheduled to start on April 28