1.  As long as the statement was not coerced, Rutledge says, the Supreme Court has said that the police may use it to develop other evidence.

2.  But Judge John Carter rejected their assertions that the statements had been coerced and that Lucas, heavily medicated with Thorazine to control a mental illness, was incompetent.

3.  His lawyer, Ronald Kuby, similarly contended that his statement had been coerced by police.

4.  All said police had coerced statements from them.

5.  The defense argued that police beat and coerced the statements from McIntosh at the time he was questioned.

6.  The defense argues that police beat and coerced the statements from McIntosh at the time he was questioned.

7.  The defense will argue, however, that the statements were coerced by police detectives under pressure to solve the highly publicized case.