Push to allow recordings delays teen's murder trial

John Odgren is accused of killing a fellow student in 2007.

The murder trial of John Odgren will be delayed for months as Middlesex prosecutors try to convince the state's highest court they should be allowed to play recorded conversations between Odgren and his parents to show the jury his mental state after he allegedly stabbed a Lincoln-Sudbury High School student to death last year.

Odgren is accused of killing 15-year-old freshman James F. Alenson inside a bathroom at the suburban high school in what prosecutors contend was an unprovoked attack. Prosecutors believe the recordings will show that Odgren was sane when he allegedly stabbed Alenson.

The office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone wants to play recordings of conversations Odgren had with his parents, Dorothy and Paul, since his arrest, which took place shortly after the Jan. 17, 2007, attack.

Superior Court Judge Raymond Brassard in May ruled that prosecutors could not use the recordings; the Supreme Judicial Court will weigh in on the decision. Odgren's first-degree murder trial was set for this fall, but now will be postponed for several months.

"We believe the jail calls were lawfully recorded and obtained and that they are important pieces of evidence to evaluate the mental state of the defendant in the aftermath of the murder," Leone said in a statement.

In a phone interview, Odgren's lawyer, Jonathan Shapiro, said he expects the high court to reach the same conclusion as Brassard.

"I think he is clearly right," Shapiro said.

He said the case could have implications for nearly every other person awaiting trial who uses a jail telephone.

"In almost every case, prosecutors are reviewing" recorded jail conversations, he said. "As a practical matter, people who are incarcerated have very little freedom to communicate with people about their case and other things as well."

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.