'Bling ring' suspect loses motion

[May 22, 2010]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Los Angeles judge has rejected a defense motion to suppress statements made to police by a suspect in a spate of celebrity burglaries.

Los Angeles County district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison says Superior Court Judge Darrell Mavis on Friday denied the motion filed by attorneys for Nicholas Prugo claiming his former attorney provided "ineffective counsel" for allowing Prugo to cooperate with police without an immunity deal.

Prosecutors say Prugo and his former attorney, who dropped out after being indicted for witness tampering on an unrelated case, came forward to police voluntarily.

Prugo is charged with seven counts of felony residential burglary for break-ins at the Hollywood Hills homes of Lindsay Lohan, Hilton, Orlando Bloom and several others.

A preliminary hearing for Prugo and other defendants is scheduled for May 25.

[Associated Press]

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