Judge Seals Evidence In Dunwoody Daycare Killing

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County judge has sealed more evidence collected through search warrants in the case of a Dunwoody father killed outside his son's preschool last November.

According to several orders signed by Judge Gregory Adams, prosecutors believe releasing the evidence to the public could harm their case against Hemy Neuman, the man accused of killing Rusty Sneiderman.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Mike Petchenik did, however, go through a litany of motions Neuman's defense attorneys have filed in recent weeks that show a pattern of how they will potentially defend him at trial.

Petchenik found a motion to suppress statements and admissions Neuman made to investigators after his January arrest. Legal sources tell Channel 2 that Neuman did not confess to the murder. Prosecutors contend his statements are admissible.

The case file also included a motion to suppress evidence collected from nearly a dozen search warrants executed on Neuman's home, his cell phone records, his email accounts, computers and office.

"Defendant contends that any evidence discovered and/or seized by the police was done pursuant to defective warrants, issued based upon affidavits that failed to establish probable cause or that provided stale information," the motion reads.

"Defendant further contends that police exceeded the scope of the warrant authorization by searching for items beyond those authorized in the search warrants, including private papers."

The motion alleges investigators violated Neuman's constitutional rights.

Another motion Petchenik found seeks to suppress prosecutors from using the words "murder," "malice murder" and "possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime."

Criminal defense attorney Manny Arora, who isn't associated with the case, told Petchenik all of the motions are consistent with a defense in a case such as this.

"These things need to be done in order to protect the defendant's rights based on our laws and over time, it'll be more specific," Arora said.

Arora said many times defense attorneys are tempted to file too many generic motions to suppress, but in this case he believes Neuman's attorneys have taken a thoughtful approach.

"There's a lot more they could have done if they wanted to," he said. "These are incredibly bright lawyers the defendant's hired. I think he's in good hands."

WSBTV