ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s top court approved a decision by a trial judge to throw out a confession by a murder suspect who says he was coerced by authorities after his arrest in North Carolina.

The Georgia Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling Monday upheld the decision by DeKalb Superior Court Judge Linda Warren Hunter to suppress the 2007 statement made by Patrick Lynch.

Lynch was indicted in 2007 for the stabbing death of Kory Gore.

The statement was given after Lynch was arrested in Nash County, N.C. following a high-speed chase. He says Nash County deputies beat him and stunned him with a Taser before they handed him over to DeKalb County detectives.