A judge ruled against a motion that would have suppressed statements made by a murder defendant while he was recovering from surgery.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe said he ruled against suppressing statements Willie Glover made while under the influence of morphine because the prosecution met its burden of proof to show that police did not obtain the statements through coercion.

Judge Iscoe noted that Glover was not hallucinating or speaking nonsensically when he made the statements and that officers of the Metropolitan Police Department voluntarily terminated the interview when it became clear that Glover could not continue.

Glover, 40, is charged with first-degree murder along with Charles McRae and Joseph Barbour. The three are accused of stabbing Lenard Wills in an apartment on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE in 2015. Glover was arrested after checking himself into a hospital in Prince George’s County with stab wounds.

Judge Iscoe said he would not credit testimony from the mother of Glover’s child, who said Glover was incoherent for days at a time while in the hospital. This was contradicted by medical records and testimonies from other witnesses. The baby-mother also said she was too upset to notice whether nurses were coming and going from Glover’s bedside.

In addition, Judge Iscoe ruled that information about selling drugs would not be admissible in court since its potential to turn the jury against the defendants outweighed its value. Judge Iscoe said his understanding of the incident in which Wills was killed was consistent with a robbery, so it would be treated as such.

The jury trial for Glover, McRae, 66, and Barbour, 38, is set to begin on June 19.

Counsel continued to debate the validity of a murder defendant’s statements while he was on morphine.

From June 11-12, attorneys argued about whether statements made by Willie Glover could be used despite the fact that Glover, 40, was recovering from surgery and on morphine when he made them. Counsel began arguing about the statements when defense filed a motion to suppress them on May 18.

Glover, 66-year-old Charles McRae and 38-year-old Joseph Barbour are charged with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing 50-year-old Lenard Wills at  an apartment complex on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE on the evening of Dec. 21, 2015.

According to court documents, Glover checked himself into the Prince George’s County Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md. a few hours later. He told officers from the Prince George’s Police Department (PGPD) that an unknown male mugged and stabbed him in Seat Pleasant, Md.

During a motion hearing, counsel and the judge questioned several witnesses as to whether Glover could give statements to police while recovering from surgery. Witnesses included a nurse, detectives from PGPD and the Metropolitan Police Department; and a doctor.

A MPD detective testified that a nurse told him Glover was “stable… conscious and alert.” He said Glover agreed to an interview.

The prosecution said Glover eventually changed his story, admitting he was actually stabbed on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE. The prosecution also said medical records indicated Glover was alert.

“He was able to give coherent chronologies,” a prosecutor said. “He is familiar with the system. He’s familiar with being interviewed.”

To show the impact morphine had on his client, defense attorney Thomas Heslep relied on testimony from an emergency physician from Bethesda, Md.

“Morphine affects people differently…side effects include nausea, headache, drowsiness…some people become confused…it runs the gamut,” the physician said.

During a hearing on May 18, the defense said Glover’s state of mind during the interview made his statement about the homicide involuntary.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe is expected to present an opinion on the matter before the trial begins. Jury selection for the case is scheduled for June 14.