September 16, 2011

Dugard Kidnapping Case Expects Guilty Plea

A young girl was abducted and kept in a hidden compound for 18 years. The man which is alleged to of kidnapped her and fathered two children with her by rape, is in court on Thursday. It’s likely that he will plead guilty which will at least give the girl and the family a small amount of justice says a New York City Family Lawyer.
The girl was kidnapped when she was 11 in 1991 and held, locked up secretly for 18 years. The accused is already a convicted rapist with a long criminal record explains the NYC Family Lawyer. The man was convicted of kidnapping and raping a girl in 1977.
The girl disappeared while she was on her way to school and his caused her family a great deal of distress.
It was thought that the defendant would issue a guilty plea. There was a plea deal which would allow him to stay in jail for the rest of his life if he did plead guilty. However, this did not happen.
There were meetings organized and it was thought to be certain that the man would plead guilty.
However, by surprise the man entered the plea not guilty. The man’s lawyer also alleged that the jury was not properly selected and that they did not act correctly. The hearing saw concerns rose over the selection of the jury.
The Lawyer was asked to submit the concerns in writing. However, it’s not actually clear exactly what the concerns are or how they affect the outcome of the case. It’s important that these two people are held accountable for their actions. It’s also important that a clear message is sent to the community regarding this case.
The pair was thought to plead guilty as it would avoid the girl and her children from needing to testify before the court. The two children fathered by rape are now 13 and 16. The kidnapper is expected to get 431 years to life if found guilty. Judges in New York City and Long Island are harsh when it comes to sentencing in this kind of case.
The girl was reunited with her mother and has requested privacy. She also hasn’t attended any of the hearings and does not want to testify because it would bring the horrible memories flooding back.

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June 5, 2011

Jury finds man guilty after he killed a young child while driving under the influence of alcohol,

A man and his girlfriend made a crucial and deadly mistake when they made the decision to let the man drive her young son home after she was arrested one evening, revealed a New York City Family Lawyer. In Manhattan and Long Island this crime is considered the ultimate in Child Abuse.
After his girlfriend left with police, the drunken man got behind the wheel, and shortly after while driving too fast, he hit a tree, slammed into a cyclone fence and killed the 5-year-old boy who was in the back seat.
When police arrived on the scene the boy was already dead and after some testing, they concluded the man’s blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
The drunken man claimed he had been forced by police to drive the car after his girlfriend was arrested. Both he and the girlfriend maintain that they had begged the officers not to let him drive the boy and not to arrest her.
In addition, the man was driving on a suspended license and stated in court reports that his girlfriend was his designated driver. His attorney argued that the case was one of “entrapment and necessity” and that again the man was forced behind the wheel by police officers and that they had threatened to arrest him if he didn’t follow his direction. .
In a statement the girlfriend said, “I told the police three different times that he was drunk and begged them not to let him drive. They didn’t want to believe me and now my boy is dead.”
A N York Family Lawyer pointed out that court reports indicated inconsistent statements from both clients and that most likely his verdict came in quickly due to the inconsistencies. She said to the jury, “Don’t forget the testimony we have from a security supervisor at the hospital.”
This basically reminded the jury that although the woman claimed she had begged the officers not to let her boyfriend drive, she admitted to the security officer at the hospital that she had done the opposite. She had begged the officers to let the man drive her son home.
The guilty man in the case could not be reached for comment and it is unclear when his sentencing will be announced at this time. The mother, who lost her son to this tragedy, declined to comment on the case and is currently expected to be serving time for other crimes unrelated to this case.

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