Scott Waltman reports:
An attorney for a Columbia-area man accused of raping and kidnapping a young girl has withdrawn a motion that would have kept recorded conversations the defendant had with priests from being used as evidence.
Thomas L. Kline, 55, has entered not guilty pleas to the 16 felony counts against him. His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 2 in Brown County.
In August, his attorney, Timothy Rensch of Rapid City, filed a motion requesting that conversations between Kline and Roman Catholic priests on May 10, May 15 and May 17 be kept private.
Read more on Aberdeen News.
The state had argued that the defendant had waived the privilege “by meeting with the priests in a room with multiple signs warning that all activities in the room are audio and video recorded twenty-four hours per day.”