Lawyers for teen charged with triple murder want cellphone data
Apr. 29—Lawyers for the teenager accused of shooting and killing his sister-in-law and two young nephews at their home in Northfield want access to six months of cellphone data they say prosecutors are withholding.
Eric Sweeney, now 17, faces three counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Kassandra Sweeney, 25, and her two sons, Benjamin, 4, and Mason, 1, on Aug. 3, 2022.
A closed hearing took place before Judge John Kissinger Monday morning at Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.
Public defender Lauren Prusiner filed documents asking Kissinger to compel prosecutors to share six months' worth of data from cellphones belonging to Kassandra and her husband, Sean Sweeney, who is Eric's brother and guardian.
The data could provide evidence relevant to the homicides, according to the filings.
"The defense believes that relevant and exculpatory evidence exists within those cell phone downloads, which are in the state's possession," Prusiner wrote.
At the start of the hearing, Kissinger confirmed this is what the sealed hearing was being held for, but the hearing ended without any portion being held in public. He took the matter under advisement, according to the court docket.
In its objection, prosecutor Bethany Durand says the request is outside the state's legal authority and "the defendant has provided no basis to demonstrate that there is any relevant or material information contained in the additional materials requested."
According to police, Eric Sweeney used Kassandra's iPhone 12 Max on the day of the killings.
Durand said while all the data was downloaded from the phones, investigators were limited by the parameters of the search warrant.
"Investigators do not have legal authority to access the entirety of information contained in the complete download without obtaining further consent or a warrant," Durand wrote.
Durand said Sean Sweeney was verbally told in a recorded interview that the communications and data would only be from the day of the killings.
"The state has no reason to believe that there is any evidence contained in either cell phone that would exculpate the defendant nor any reason to believe that any evidence relevant to this triple murder would exist in the cellular downloads of Sean and/ or Kassandra's cell phones," the prosecutors wrote.
Prusiner argued that consent forms signed by Sean Sweeney allow police "to conduct a complete search" of both cellphones. The raw data is available.
On the day of the slayings, Sean Sweeney called 911 saying his brother reported the murder. Eric Sweeney claimed "someone had broken into the home and 'killed them all,'" according to court documents.
Sean Sweeney was allowed to attend the hearing, but he was not physically present in the courtroom. He may have appeared via video conference.
Eric Sweeney's public defenders have previously said he may rely on an insanity defense.
A final pretrial hearing is scheduled for November, with the trial set to begin in December.
