Pasco murder suspect says he gave a false confession, but admits was at scene

A suspect in the Dec. 3 fatal shooting of a Pasco man told a judge Thursday he was forced into a false confession because of threats and promises to him made by a detective.

Kenyatta K.E. Bridges, 26, said he was told that if he didn’t talk to police, he and his wife would be locked up, he would “not see the light of day again” and their young children would be taken by Child Protective Services.

Bridges took the stand during an all-day hearing in Franklin County Superior Court to determine if statements he made to police can be used in trial.

Defense attorney Karla Kane Hudson is trying to get Bridges’ case dismissed — or at a minimum the statements suppressed — based on lack of probable cause for the arrest warrant, a false confession and governmental misconduct by Pasco police Detective Tony Aceves.

Judge Carrie Runge did not rule on the motions, saying she needs to review her notes and the exhibits entered into evidence. Her decision will be announced at Bridges’ next hearing, possibly later this month.

Bridges’ former attorney, Scott Johnson, testified he was hired by Bridges and his wife, Mary A. Faucett, on Dec. 11 and that he immediately notified law enforcement any contact with his clients had to go through the Kennewick law firm.

The lawyer said he was “surprised and angry” to learn after he made that call, Aceves reached out to Faucett with “words to the effect that she had messed up or screwed up in hiring a lawyer in the case.”

Johnson said that during a follow-up call to Aceves, the detective confirmed he had talked to Faucett and then hung up on Johnson instead of answering why he ignored the lawyer’s previous request.

However, Aceves told the court he did not tell Faucett she made a mistake by hiring an attorney.

“I believe I told her that it was her right,” said Aceves, adding that the purpose of the call was to cancel a scheduled interview with Bridges and to tell Faucett that her husband needed to turn himself in. At that time, Bridges was being investigated for rendering criminal assistance after a November shooting of four men inside a car in Pasco.

The detective said that a couple of days later, he got a three-way call from Faucett and her mother. Faucett acknowledged her attorney wasn’t aware of the call, and she told Aceves they had an alibi for the shooting and wanted to share it.

Aceves drove Bridges to the Pasco police station Dec. 26, a day after the couple were arrested in Spokane. Bridges told investigators “he had never retained an attorney” and agreed to give a recorded statement, so Aceves said he didn’t feel he needed to notify Johnson of the arrest.

Bridges is charged with first-degree murder while he or an accomplice was armed with a deadly weapon, along with conspiracy and second-degree unlawful gun possession. Trial is scheduled Dec. 2.

Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Lorincz said Thursday it is true investigators believe Bridges “played a minor role” in the death of Lorenzo “Richie” Fernandez Jr.

DeShawn I. Anderson was the “mastermind,” she said, killing the 22-year-old Fernandez as he sat in his car outside a Pasco apartment complex.

Anderson and Bridges are cousins.

Anderson, 19, is charged with the slaying, along with four counts of first-degree assault for an earlier gang-related shooting.

Faucett, Bridges’ wife, is accused of luring Fernandez to his death by calling him that night to meet up, knowing Anderson had planned an ambush, according to court documents. She is charged with conspiracy, first-degree rendering criminal assistance and making false or misleading statements to a public servant.

Bridges testified he was scared of Aceves and believed his “word was gold,” especially after his bail was set at $1 million and his wife’s at $25,000 as had been threatened.

So when asked if he had an attorney and wanted to remain silent during the Dec. 26 interview, Bridges said he told investigators “no” because he felt he had to waive his rights and tell them what they wanted to hear.

“What they’re accusing me of was not actually true,” Bridges said.

But on further questioning by Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn, Bridges admitted that it wasn’t all lies.

Bridges said he did go with Anderson on Dec. 3 to the parking lot of the Stonegate Apartments on Road 68.

He said he was not standing next to Anderson when Fernandez was shot and killed, but “was standing somewhere in the vicinity.”

He said he had heard investigators might have recovered his DNA off urine found near the crime scene.

And he said he took off in the car with Anderson “because I was scared.”

Bridges denied being armed with a 9 mm pistol that night — a statement he earlier said was true after being shown his cousin’s videotaped admission of what happened in the parking lot. A 9 mm pistol magazine was found at the scene, along with .45-caliber shell casings.

Bridges said a call was placed by a woman to the victim’s phone in order to get Fernandez to the apartment complex, but later said he didn’t know his cellphone had been used “due to me losing my phone.”

Although Bridges and Faucett met with Johnson and retained him in mid-December, they never actually paid him to represent them or signed a contract.

Johnson said that is not unusual in defense work and he still considered them his clients. He also informed Bridges that if he was charged with the fatal shooting, there was a good chance Johnson would get the case since he is on the homicide defense panel.

Johnson was appointed to the case, but he was removed by the judge in early March after Bridges filed a motion claiming a court-appointed attorney is obliged to lie.

“I think that he was getting some bad advice from a jailhouse lawyer that created a tough situation for us,” Johnson said Thursday.

When police searched the SUV that Bridges and Faucett had been driving at the time of their arrest, they found numerous cards for defense attorneys — mainly in the Spokane area — a note in Bridges’ handwriting listing possible defenses, like “alibi” and “mistaken identity,” and a note for a law firm in Spokane.

Aceves said Bridges was laughing, smiling and very social with the detectives until they showed him — after Bridges’ repeated requests — the portion of Anderson’s interview where he reportedly gives up his cousin’s role in the shooting.

Bridges then slumped over onto the table, asked for the other detective to leave the room, and then requested he go into a separate room with Aceves and talk off-the-record.

The suspect then “slowly admitted his involvement,” and they returned to the interview room so the statement could be put on the record, Aceves said. The detective testified that he did not threaten or coerce Bridges or make any promises, and told him it was best to show remorse, truth and honesty.

Bridges claims that once in the second room, he was told he should talk if he really wanted to help his wife and kids. He also said he acts calm when he is “super nervous” and that he doesn’t like law enforcement because of his prior contacts, including a burglary conviction.

Professor Alan Hirsch with Williams College in Massachussetts testifed by phone Thursday about his knowledge of interrogations and confessions.

Hirsch, a former lawyer, said after reviewing the recorded interview he felt Aceves used a combination of confrontation and minimization by saying Bridges was a good person and “a very small fish” in the shooting and he would be treated leniently if he talked.

The professor said it was an extremely aggressive use of a certain interview method, but stopped short of actually calling Bridges’ statement a false confession.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 10:11 PM with the headline "Pasco murder suspect says he gave a false confession, but admits was at scene."