JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The man charged with fatally shooting his girlfriend at the Amazon center in North Jacksonville last year was too injured and heavily medicated to speak to police, according to his defense attorney.
Daisean Biffle, 23, was hospitalized with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head when Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detectives interviewed and arrested him on Sept. 30, 2020 -- the day after the shooting. Police say he shot and killed his 22-year-old girlfriend Ebony Nichols at the warehouse where they both worked, then shot himself in the head.
At a hearing Friday, his Assistant Public Defender Teri Sopp argued any statements he made during his police interview should be suppressed because he wasn’t cognizant enough to consent or waive his rights.
Sopp played the seven-minute recorded interview in court, during which Biffle moans in pain and responds briefly to the detectives’ questions. In a few longer exchanges, he denies knowing that a shooting at the Amazon center had occurred, or the fact that Nichols was dead.
Sopp challenged the way Sgt. Christopher Smith read Biffle his Miranda rights. In the recording, Smith says, “You have the following rights under the United States Constitution. I'm going to read you each one, and just after the end, I'm going to ask if you understand it all, OK? So I just need you to say yes.”
Moments later, his partner clarified, “Can you say yes or no for us, by chance, just so we can make sure we understand you correctly?”
Sopp argued Biffle was also heavily medicated, having been given a variety of opioid-based painkillers and other drugs.
According to JSO, detectives were told only that Biffle had received Tylenol, not Roxicontin and ketamine, along with other pain and anti-seizure medications. (A nurse called to testify did not specifically recall what he told detectives.)
Sopp called Tampa-based pharmacologist Dr. Daniel Buffington to testify. He noted that aside from being potentially impaired by drugs, Biffle had suffered a traumatic brain injury when he shot himself in the head.
“It would be inappropriate to ask this individual questions,” he testified. “He could barely even formulate words to the responses.”
Circuit Judge Kevin Blazs did not yet issue a ruling. Biffle has pleaded not guilty.