Defense attorney Kara Blackney attempted to have the interrogation interview by Hamilton Police Lt. Eric Taylor, a native Spanish speaker, suppressed based on the translation of the video. She claimed because the translator either misheard or Taylor wasn’t clear, that her client, who she said has a third-grade education, may not have understood not only his rights, but could either ask clarifying questions or stop talking all together.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Oster said the court did not see or read in the translation, or hear, Riano ever indicate he did not understand or ask questions during the 92-minute interrogation with Taylor and Detective Ryan Beckelhymer, who sat in the interview but does not speak Spanish.
“I believe the opportunity was there to clarify,” Oster said moments before his ruling to allow the interrogation during the murder trial that starts April 1. “His responses never indicated anything other than understanding.”
Riano was found in his hometown of Zapotitlan Palmas in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico and transported by U.S. Marshals back to Butler County to stand trial. He was transported to the United States on Aug. 1 after about a year of navigating the extradition process. He has been held without bond since August.
Riano had been listed as one of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office “Most Wanted” and profiled on the America’s Most Wanted television series in 2005.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
In the past two decades, the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office has partnered with the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs working with Mexican law enforcement to arrest Riano and extradite him to the United States.
Riano was working as a local police officer in Mexico when he apprehended, according to the U.S. Marshals Office.
If convicted, Riano faces a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 18 years. He is facing a single charge of murder with a three-year gun specification.
The Mexican National reportedly fled to Mexico before the grand jury issued its murder indictment in February 2005.
Becarra was shot in the head outside a bar the Roundhouse Bar at East Avenue and Long Street, according to court records. Witnesses identified the suspect as “El Diablo.”
Court records also show that through witnesses, a video and a search of a residence turned up ammunition that was purchased 45 minutes prior to the shooting.
Police continued to follow leads in the U.S. for two years before receiving information he had fled to Mexico.
Previous Journal-News reporting was used in this story.
About the Author
