TAHLEQUAH (AP) - The first-degree murder trial of a Muskogee man will be delayed while the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals considers an appeal by Cherokee County prosecutors.
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The appeals court issued a stay blocking Monday's proceeding from getting under way.
Robert Lee Smallen, a 56-year-old welder, is accused of killing Ronnie Dean Hall in July 2007.
Prosecutors are appealing a decision by District Judge Bruce Sewell that bars the use of statements Smallen made to investigators.
Smallen was under suspicion in the death of Hall, 47, a bricklayer, when he asked for an attorney, authorities say. Hall was killed near the Horsehoe Bend area of Lake Tenkiller and was found floating in the water.
Smallen asked for an attorney, so any statement he made can't properly be used against him, his defense attorney, Rex Earl Starr, told the appeals court.
Assistant District Attorney David Pierce appealed Sewell's ruling suppressing Smallen's statements.
