The lawyer for a former Penn State football player accused of fatally stabbing a student in June argued yesterday to suppress the content of her client’s phone calls made from prison because it violates his constitutional rights.

LaVon Chisley, 23, is charged with first- and third-degree murder in connection with the death of Langston Carraway, 26. Carraway was found dead on a couch in his 110 Northbrook Lane apartment on June 5 with 93 stab and slash wounds.

Karen Muir, Chisley’s lawyer, asked for the content of calls he made from prison to be suppressed from court because Chisley spoke with family and friends “regarding the strategies, strengths and weakness of the case….” Muir said the prosecution’s control of that information hinders Chisley’s rights to due process and a fair trial, according to court documents.

Two Centre County Correctional Facility employees were called to testify about phone recording and monitoring procedures for inmates during a hearing yesterday before Centre County Judge Charles Brown.

Officer Thomas Bloom said he had previously provided a CD of Chisley’s phone calls to the District Attorney’s office, and as early as last week, he fielded another request from the office for a compilation of all Chisley’s phone calls.

Both Muir and Assistant District Attorney Nathan Boob clarified that there was no provision or guideline in writing about the disclosure of those recordings; however, Bloom, who directly deals with the telephone recordings, said he only provides copies to law enforcement officials.

Both employees stated that each inmate is given a telephone identification number upon booking, and before every call, prisoners hear a disclaimer stating the call may be recorded and monitored. According to court documents, Muir argued that the recordings shouldn’t have been provided to law enforcement because police had already charged Chisley with Carraway’s murder and obtained statements from him.

Muir maintained her intent to see all charges dismissed by highlighting a portion of the preliminary hearing transcript that shows “proof of deliberate falsehood and omissions” in the probable cause.

She contested the veracity of statements in the criminal complaint, the first of which was that Chisley’s DNA profile was the only profile inside a bloody glove found a few feet from Carraway’s body. Muir asked Patton Township Police Detective Chris Federinko at the January preliminary hearing if that was true, and he could not confirm a match — only that Chisley couldn’t be excluded as a contributor.

Other contentions involved testimony by the commonwealth’s witness, Kerry Onaka, who was Chisley’s friend. Onaka said she saw Chisley in possession of a black rubber glove similar to the one found at the crime scene. According to the criminal complaint, Onaka was shown a glove "identical" to the one found at the crime scene. Lastly, according to the criminal complaint, Onaka told police that Chisley was wearing different clothes than he had the night before, from June 3 to 4. Muir said police “intentionally omitted” from the criminal complaint that Onaka said it was “not uncommon” for Chisley to change clothes from day to day.

Boob said Muir’s points are “moot” because a neutral magisterial district judge found enough reason to send the case to trial even with “alleged defects” revealed through what he called a use of “rhetorical flair.”

He also cited another provision stating that errors in the criminal complaint are null by the conclusion of a preliminary hearing. Muir countered, saying that she had been prevented from contesting the errors at the preliminary hearing through objections claiming irrelevance made by the commonwealth.

Muir closed with another plea for Chisley to be granted bail.

“[Chisley] knew that these charges were coming, and he never fled. He didn’t hide,” she said. “He voluntarily came to Centre County, walked to the back door of the courthouse and walked right into the arms of members of the Patton Township police department.”

Muir added that she would provide to the court a Centre County address where Chisley could reside. Boob said statutes indicate that a defendant who faces life in prison, which is the penalty for a first-degree murder conviction, is not entitled to bail.

However, Muir said the provision does not prohibit the court from giving the defendant bail. “It just says they don’t have the right,” she said.

Boob insisted, though, that “the plain wording of the statute is clear.”

The judge gave both attorneys 30 days to submit briefs on these issues, and each will have 10 more days to respond.

Muir affirmed her request for a bill of particulars, which she said she needs to establish the time and date of Carraway’s death and therefore, form Chisley’s alibi defense.

“Also, it will hold the commonwealth to it so there’s not a surprise in the middle of a homicide case,” she added.

Boob cited provisions that stated the bill of particulars is not a substitute for discovery or an appropriate vehicle for discovery.

The motion for appointment of experts and an investigator, supplied through taxpayers’ money, was privately discussed in Brown’s chambers after the hearing.

In reference to a motion to bar entry of a prior criminal record, Boob asked the court to hold off on a decision. He said they are aware they must notify the defendant if they choose to introduce his records at trial but have not made that decision yet.

Chisley is scheduled for a mid-May pretrial and June jury selection. Both attorneys say there may be delays because of a longer discovery stage.