SAN DIEGO -- A motion seeking information on three teens originally accused of the 1998 killing of Stephanie Crowe would best be heard at the trial of a transient now charged with the girl's murder, a judge ruled Wednesday.

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Tuite's Attorney Says Someone Else Did It

As a preliminary hearing for Richard Tuite began, Superior Court Judge Gale Kaneshiro granted a motion to quash subpoenas issued by the defendant's attorney to lawyers for Michael Crowe, Joshua Treadway and Aaron Houser.

The victim's 14-year-old brother and his two 15-year-old friends were charged shortly after the girl's body was found near her bed the morning of Jan. 21, 1998.

The next year, a judge ruled that most of the "confessions" by Michael Crowe and Treadway were inadmissible at trial because they were coerced.

Attorney Brad Patton unsuccessfully argued that he needed access to reports on Michael Crowe, Treadway and Houser to help clear his 33-year-old client's name.

"So, yes, this is a 'fishing expedition,'" Patton told the judge. "We need access to that information to establish (Tuite's) innocence in this case."

A pathologist who examined a knife found under one of the boys' beds said the weapon -- or one identical to it -- killed Stephanie Crowe, according to Patton.

He said the initial police investigation showed the murder was "an inside job" by more than one person who had knowledge of the Crowe residence.

Houser's original attorney, Donald McInnis, testified that he was convinced that a knife turned over to him was not the murder weapon. But Kaneshiro ruled that Patton failed to show that the information he wanted was necessary for the preliminary hearing, and would more properly be raised before trial.

Tuite, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was seen in the area of the Crowe residence and questioned after the girl's murder, but dismissed as a bumbling prowler incapable of killing anyone.

After retesting, blood stains belonging to the victim were found on a sweatshirt Tuite was wearing the night the girl died.

Patton claimed the blood evidence against Tuite was the result of contamination, but Escondido police found no evidence of that.

Charges against the three boys were dropped, and then-District Attorney Paul Pfingst turned the case over to the state Attorney General's Office.

Tuite was arrested last May, after detectives from the Sheriff's Department took over the investigation.

Cheryl Crowe, the victim's mother, told reporters outside court that she was glad to see Tuite facing murder charges.

"It's hard," she said. "Anything about my daughter is hard. The bottom line is: her blood is on the killer. It screams for justice."

A civil suit filed by the Crowe, Treadway and Houser families against parties involved in the original prosecution of the case is scheduled to go to trial May 12.

The preliminary hearing, expected to last two weeks, will determine if there is probable cause to believe Tuite is guilty of the crimes charged and should stand trial.

The state's first witnesses are expected to be called Thursday.

Prosecutors say they have examined a photograph -- showing the contents of Tuite's pockets the morning after the murder -- that allegeldy links him to the crime scene.

The photo shows a wrapper which appears to be from a Smith Brothers cough drop, part of a wrapper from a Snickers candy bar and two white matchbooks.

A crime scene photo of the Crowe residence shows an opened bag of cough drops, according to the Attorney General's office.

Cheryl Crowe said she routinely cut Snickers bars in half for her family and also kept white matchbooks on a ledge near the barbecue.

Tuite faces 27 years to life in prison if convicted.