A State College man charged with murder has requested text messages and marijuana found in his apartment be excluded from his trial, set to begin Nov. 5, according to court documents filed Monday.
The motion to exclude certain pieces of evidence in the trial of Tyler Steven Marlatt, 21, of State College, stems from information that his defense attorney, Edward Blanarik, calls “not relevant nor logically probative of any issue in this case,” according to court documents.
Marlatt is charged with murder of the first, second and third degree, as well as robbery and aggravated assault, after police said he fatally stabbed Tyler Vaughn Struble, of Lemont, in the neck Jan. 16, according to court documents.
State College Police said that witnesses reported that the incident started when Struble refused to pay Fatima Ghoul, a 19-year-old State College woman, about $20 for marijuana, as previously reported.
According to court documents, the text messages should not be permissible because they can’t be “properly authenticated,” which then makes them “inadmissible hearsay.”
Blanarik also argued that the marijuana should not be included in the trial because Marlatt is not currently being charged with any drug-related offenses, according to court documents.
Neither defense attorney Blanarik nor the District Attorney’s office could be reached for comment as of press time Wednesday.
