Feds say suspect’s statements on phone threat admissible

DENVER – Federal prosecutors say statements from a Spokane man accused of threatening a Colorado abortion doctor’s family should be admitted in court.

Donald Hertz has said that authorities didn’t read him his constitutional rights before questioning him and that his statements aren’t admissible.

He is accused of calling the Boulder Abortion Clinic in June and threatening to kill Dr. Warren Hern’s family. Hertz faces charges of making an interstate threat and of violating a law protecting access to reproductive health services.

Prosecutors said in a federal court filing Monday that authorities didn’t have to read Hertz his rights because he wasn’t in custody when he allegedly told investigators he called the clinic.