JACKSON — JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man arrested while authorities were looking for one of the U.S. Marshals Service's most-wanted fugitives has asked a judge to throw out evidence obtained during the search of his house.
Royce Funchess was arrested on Aug. 7 while task force agents with the U.S. Marshals Service were searching his house in the Jackson suburb of Terry for Robert Lee King.
King is suspected of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and wounding her adult daughter in Memphis, Tenn., in 2005. He is on the marshals' most-wanted list and has been featured on the television show America's Most Wanted.
Authorities say they were acting on a tip that King had been driving Funchess' car and staying at his house. Agents went to the house early on the morning of Aug. 7 and knocked on the door.
Marshals say they arrested Funchess after he pointed a gun at an agent.
King, 48, was not in the house and he has not been captured.
Funchess' lawyer has asked U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. to throw out evidence obtained during the search.
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Nov. 6 in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Jackson did not respond to a request for comment. Funchess' lawyer would not comment.
"Any purported consent to search the home was a result of coercion and duress and not a voluntary act of free will; consequently, all evidence is tainted by the illegality of the search and must be suppressed pursuant to the exclusionary rule," Funchess' attorney, Michael Scott, wrote in court records.
"Furthermore, any contention that yelling 'police' or loudly knocking or 'banging' on the door is a show of coercive force is also unfounded," prosecutors wrote in court records.
Prosecutors say that another man let agents in the house, and when they showed him a picture of King and asked if anyone else was home, the man said "he back there."
Prosecutors say an agent opened a bedroom door and saw Funchess in the bed pointing a pistol at him. The officer fired one shot that struck a wall near Funchess's head. He allegedly continued to resist and officers used stun gun on him, according to court records.
Funchess was indicted Aug. 21 on charges of assault, felon in possession of a gun and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The search for King continues.
He's charged with fatally stabbing Dorothy Smith and wounding her daughter, Diana, in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 1, 2005. He's wanted on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Diana Smith told investigators she woke to her mother's screams that morning about 4 a.m. She walked to her mother's bedroom and saw King stabbing her, according to the Marshals Service. Diana Smith tried to lock herself in a bedroom to call for help, but King broke through the door and cut her neck, authorities say. She has since recovered.
Richard Griffin, supervisory agent for the U.S. Marshals Service in Jackson, has said King has ties to Mississippi, particularly in the Delta region, and to the Chicago area.
A reward of up to $25,000 has been offered for information leading to his arrest.
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