Relivance of confessions???

[cruiser28613]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

I have a question involving my son Adam. What is the weight given to a statement given only minutes after a suspect is found to have a concussion? My son was driven to the local hospital where he was treated for head wounds and found to have a minor to mild concussion and taken immediately to the Sheriff's Dept. where he voluntarily gave a confession, written by the SBI agents, but signed by my son. Please comment. Any questions should be directed to [email protected] Thank you.


Signed Parent in need

 

[chris86]

Relivance (sp.) of confessions???

If you have any doubts as to the validity of the statements given by your son, I would contact the Supervising Officer that is handling the case, and ask if he may be permitted to provide another...he may oblige, instead of having you raise the issue in court..however, contesting the validity in court would require having a doctor be "expert witness", and quite frankly, that is more expensive than the common man can afford. Having your son speak to the officer, say that details were a little cloudy but he is feeling better, and wants to be sure that his statement was accurate. Usually with a head wound, a person will eliminate some details, or be a little vague...I wouldn't think it was a common occurrence for a concussion to cause a person to believe he/she did something that the person clearly didn't.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

A MTBI doesn't render a suspect incompetent per se. Competency is a very simple test and your son will pass that, so a mtbi is not a get out of jail card. The cost to evaluate your son by an expert witness, a forensic neuropsychologist is going to cost in the range of $250+ per hour for interviewing, researching, testing, scoring, depos, testimony and travel costs, figure at least $5k for each expert, also figure 1/2 the cost of all opposing witnesses for depos....... and the cost of a criminal defense attorney who will charge for every minute spent on the case. NC may be a "Good 'ol Boys" state where pick-up trucks and shooot'n go hand in hand but your son cannot expect to act out Bob Marley's song I Shot The Sheriff

(I shot the sheriff
But I didn’t shoot no deputy, oh no! oh!
I shot the sheriff
But I didn’t shoot no deputy, ooh, ooh, oo-ooh.)
Yeah! all around in my home town,
They’re tryin’ to track me down;
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the killing of a deputy,
For the life of a deputy.
But I say:

Oh, now, now. oh!
(I shot the sheriff.) - the sheriff.
(but I swear it was in selfdefence.)
Oh, no! (ooh, ooh, oo-oh) yeah!
I say: I shot the sheriff - oh, lord! -
(and they say it is a capital offence.)
Yeah! (ooh, ooh, oo-oh) yeah!

Sheriff John Brown always hated me,
For what, I don’t know:
Every time I plant a seed,
He said kill it before it grow -
He said kill them before they grow.
And so:

Read it in the news:
(I shot the sheriff.) oh, lord!
(but I swear it was in self-defence.)
Where was the deputy? (oo-oo-oh)
I say: I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in selfdefence. (oo-oh) yeah!

Freedom came my way one day
And I started out of town, yeah!
All of a sudden I saw sheriff John Brown
Aiming to shoot me down,
So I shot - I shot - I shot him down and I say:
If I am guilty I will pay.

(I shot the sheriff,)
But I say (but I didn’t shoot no deputy),
I didn’t shoot no deputy (oh, no-oh), oh no!
(I shot the sheriff.) i did!
But I didn’t shoot no deputy. oh! (oo-oo-ooh)

Reflexes had got the better of me
And what is to be must be:
Every day the bucket a-go a well,
One day the bottom a-go drop out,
One day the bottom a-go drop out.
I say:

I - I - I - I shot the sheriff.
Lord, I didn’t shot the deputy. yeah!
I - I (shot the sheriff) -
But I didn’t shoot no deputy, yeah! no, yeah!