For more background on this, here is the article that ran in the Herald after charges were dropped against Fuhrman in 2006:

Prosecutor and police procedure resulted in murder suspect Christopher Fuhrman's release from jail last month. In a lengthy order, Carver County District Court Judge Philip Kanning overturned a grand jury's February murder indictment of Fuhrman and suppressed one of the statements Fuhrman made to police during the investigation of the fatal shooting of Nancy Everson.

The judge's decision crippled the state's case against Fuhrman, forcing the Carver County Attorney's Office to dismiss charges of first- and second-degree murder against the 21-year-old.

Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight said he was unable to comment on the ongoing case and Assistant Carver County Attorney Peter Ivy said he wouldn't comment on the judge's decision.

Rather than appeal Kanning's order, the county attorney opted to grant Fuhrman immunity to compel him to testify against fellow suspects Grant Everson and Joel Beckrich.

Police alleged that Fuhrman helped Everson and Beckrich plan the murder of Everson's parents, Tom and Nancy, and, along with friend Michael Gulden, provided an alibi for Everson and Beckrich after Nancy was shot and killed on Jan. 15.

Initially, prosecutors motioned to appeal the dismissal of the grand jury indictment and also indicated that they were intending to reconvene a grand jury.

According to Carver County District Court transcripts, the prosecution and defense were later able to come to an agreement to drop all charges against Fuhrman, including unrelated property complaints of arson and burglary, in exchange for Fuhrman agreeing to become a material witness and testify against Beckrich and Everson.

"It may or may not be that we call him in the trial on State v. Joel Beckrich," Ivy said. "It is anticipated he will be testifying for sure in the trial of State v. Grant Everson."

Judge Kanning gave Fuhrman two options following his release.

"What would you like to do?" he asked. "Go home or stay with us at the jail?"

"I'd rather go home," Fuhrman answered.

Fuhrman was later released to his parents, whom he will reside with through the Everson and Beckrich trials. Ivy said they were hopeful that they would be able to conclude the trials by the end of November.

As part of his grant of immunity, Fuhrman was connected to an electronic home monitoring system with a passive GPS unit before leaving the jail. The GPS bracelet will automatically download the geographical locations where Fuhrman goes each day. Violations could result in Fuhrman being forced to post $75,000 bond or return to jail for the duration of the trials.

"Fuhrman can do anything of a constructive nature - go to work, go to church, go to school," said Ivy. "What we don't want is Fuhrman leaving the state or lapsing back into some of his old behaviors. � That is not going to bode well for anybody."

Among Kanning's main reasons for suppressing Fuhrman's statement were tactics used by Chaska police officers to obtain information from Fuhrman.

"A long line of cases have found that a person's statement may be suppressed based upon the comments made by interrogating officers or by tactics used by such officers," wrote Kanning. "Every one of the issues which have troubled courts in the past, are present in this case."

Kanning's concerns included false promises, misrepresentations made by officers and minimization of what Fuhrman was facing.

Kanning, in his order, pointed to recorded comments made by police to Fuhrman such as, "We are not going to arrest you for anything," "You're not in any trouble in this murder investigation," and "Worst case would be what's considered aiding an offender. That would be worst case so it's not like the same as blaming you for going up there and doing this."

Chaska Police Detective Jon Kehrberg said that Fuhrman was later "stunned and shocked" when he was told by police that he was going to be placed under arrest.

According to Kanning's order, this incident isn't the first time Chaska police officers have been reprimanded for their information- gathering tactics.

"Officer Kehrberg has himself been warned previously by the court regarding promises and trickery," Kanning wrote, of the lead investigator.

Former Chaska Police Chief Greg Schol said that he didn't see any reason why Kehrberg should be singled out for criticism in this case.

"He was being aggressive at catching someone involved in a brutal murder," said Schol. "Seems to me that would be the kind of police officer we would want. As long as the police stay within the legal bounds, that's what they should be doing."

"I have nothing but the utmost respect for (Kehrberg)," he added. "He's one of the finest police offi cers I've ever known."

Kehrberg also drew Kanning's ire for his failure to give Fuhrman his Miranda warning prior to collecting his second statement at the police department.

"During the post-Miranda confession, Beckrich also implicated Fuhrman," wrote Kanning. "All of this info was thus available to the detectives before subsequent interviews of (Fuhrman) and an appropriate Miranda warning should have been given. It was not. Therefore, any statements obtained from Fuhrman subsequent to that in the squad car must be suppressed."

According to his order, Kanning weighed those factors along with Fuhrman's young age, his lack of experience with the criminal justice system, his lack of education and delayed maturity level and the fact that he was sick and tired when investigators questioned him to determine that police action was inappropriate.

The police were not the only targets of Kanning's decision. The prosecuting attorneys from the Carver County Attorney's Office were also chastised for the evidence they presented to the grand jury.

"A review of the transcript makes it obvious that the prosecutor 'cherry picked' the evidence so that only the bad stuff came in," wrote Kanning, who noted that prosecutors made no mention of Fuhrman's skepticism over the details of the alleged murder plan.

"On certain occasions, the prosecutor intervened and directed witnesses not to answer a question," he added. "(They) allowed police investigators to testify as to obviously inadmissible opinion evidence before a grand jury."

Kanning ruled that those actions produced a biased grand jury and he overturned the murder indictment against Fuhrman.

If the state decides to use Fuhrman in its case against Beckrich, he will be due back in court in September. Beckrich's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 12. Everson's case is scheduled for sometime in November.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at [email protected].)