A July jury trial for Juan-David Gutierrez has been canceled as the state appeals a judge’s decision to suppress statements made during a nearly three-hour interrogation in the Ray County sexual assault case.

Gutierrez is charged with first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy and second-degree sodomy.

Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Timothy Flook granted Gutierrez’s motion, filed by defense attorney Michael Santschi, to suppress statements from a 2024 interrogation and granted the state’s request to postpone the July 13 trial while the ruling is appealed. Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Suddy filed the state’s notice of appeal July 15. A separate motion seeking dismissal of one of the two charges against Gutierrez on the ground of the statute of limitations remains under advisement.

The suppression ruling centers on an April 22, 2024, interrogation conducted by Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Larry Nelson while Gutierrez was being held at the Caldwell County Jail. According to Fl…