Lacey confession still not allowed

Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter ruled last week that a statement police obtained from Caleb Lacey confessing to starting a Feb. 19 North Lawrence fire that killed four people may not be presented by the prosecution unless the defense attorney tries to argue to the jury that the confession never occurred.

Judge Carter's Jan. 28 ruling came three days after Lacey's defense lawyer, Christopher Cassar, referred to the eight hours of police questioning of his client in his opening statement, prompting Carter to consider allowing the prosecution to admit the tape into evidence because of the defense attorney possibly misleading jurors into thinking there was never a confession. Cassar had described to the jury how Lacey was subjected to hours of grueling questioning on March 20, even after repeatedly saying he did not start the fire, and was denied a request to speak to his father.

In pre-trial hearings, Carter ruled that the confession would not be shown to the jury because of the tape's poor sound quality, and that Detective Carl Re, who elicited the confession, could not testify about it because he continued to question Lacey even after Lacy had invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

The Lacey trial is now at the end of its second week to determine if the first-year probationary volunteer with the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department was responsible for the deaths of Morena Vanegas her son, Saul Preza, and daughters Susanna and Andrea Vanegas in the fire at a N. Lawrence apartment building at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Mill Street. Police arrested Lacey on March 20, charging him with arson, saying he doused the only stairwell in the two-story building with gasoline before heading to the Fire Department headquarters in hopes of responding to the scene and being a hero. The 20-year old Lacey is facing second-degree murder and arson charges, and a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison.