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Judge delays ruling on bid for tips in UNC murder case

Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour probed the finer points of discovery law and the policies of Crime Stoppers Wednesday before a decision about whether lawyers for two murder suspects should get broader access to records of tips called in to the program.

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HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A judge in Orange County on Wednesday delayed ruling on a defense request for details about tipsters' calls to a crime hotline after the slaying of a student body president.

Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour probed the finer points of discovery law and the policies of Crime Stoppers Wednesday before making a decision about whether lawyers for two murder suspects should get broader access to records of tips called in to the program.

He was expected to rule on the matter Wednesday but said that he will reserve his ruling to look at additional documents. A ruling could come next week, he said.

Demario James Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette are accused of killing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson in March 2008.

Police found Carson, 22, dead about a half-mile from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while responding to early-morning reports of gunshots. She had been shot five times, according to an autopsy report.

At a hearing last month, defense attorneys argued that they should see all information that would be helpful to their case, not just what authorities consider relevant.

District Attorney Jim Woodall argued that broader access to the Crime Stoppers information would expose the identities of callers who are promised anonymity.

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