A change of plea has been granted in a Huron murder case. Attorneys for Edwin Thompson asked Judge Jon Erickson to let Edwin Thompson change his plea from not guilty to not guilty AND not guilty by reason of insanity. The motion was requested after defense lawyers had discussions with Dr. Lyle Christopherson, the psychiatirst, treating Thompson for schizophrenic paranoia. Beadle County Deputy State’s Attorney Jeff Banks had no objections to the change of plea request, but did ask that a hearing be set to determine the admisibiltiy of expert testimony from Christopherson, regarding the mental state of Thompson at the time of Ryan Treadway’s death at the Bradfield Leary Center in Huron. Erickson set that hearing for May 24th. A motion to allow the jury to have written transcripts of audio taped interviews of Thompson by police was granted as well. Banks says the transcripts would help jurors follow the interview better because of the poor quality of the audio in the recording.
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