unlawful procedures

[Hawaiianmoufprowl]

Aloha and thank you for looking into my e-mail. I am currently 17 years old and I'm worried about a situation that my 19 year old cousin is in. One morning he and his girlfriend woke up and found their baby had a broken leg. They took her to the hospital and the hospital called CPS. CPS then had detectives interview my cousins girlfriend. From what he told me, his girlfriend said she originally stated that it might have been there baby son who broke the baby girls leg because they were all sleeping on one bed. Then after a long talk with the detectives she started singing to a different tune. She told detectives then that it was my cousin who broke the babys leg. They put a TRO on him and he went back to his fathers house. He also told me that the detectives took him in for a interview and that they didn't allow him to have any legal person present. Nor did they explain any of his rights. This is the first time ever being held on charges of any kind. He told them his side of the story, then they threatened him to shoot him in the leg if he didn't say that he had done it. They also told him they could lessen his sentence and that his dad told them that he was on Ice. When in truth he was never on Ice and I wouldn't think his dad would say this about him anyways. They basically tricked him into what they wanted. Is there anything that he can do besides talk to his Public Defender?
He's more then a cousin to me and this is the only way I can think of helping him!
Please send me a e-mail at [email protected] I'll be grateful for anyadvice.

 

[hannah jo]

If his consitutional rights were violated at any time during the investigative, detention or arrest, his defense attorney should be addressing those issues when defending the case. If not, then there may be two reasons: the defense attorney has explored the events as told by your cousin and found either discrepancies in his story making it improbable or that no rights were violated - or - the defense attorney is not doign his job in defending his client. This is only a question that can be answere dby your cousin - who has the relationship with the attorney and can assess what he feels may be occurring. Your cousin can fire his counsel, ask the court to appoint new counsel or retain a private criminal defense attorney. There are options if he feel he is not being adequately represented. he may also wish to explore the matter with a civil rights attorney if he feels his rights were violated during the process.

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Please note that these comments do not constitute legal advice. It is always recommended that you consult with a local attorney, who can explore all the facts and issues of your specific situation and then advise you of any legal rights and remedies you may have under the current laws of your jurisdiction.