10-21-2011, 07:06 AM
bullshit defense alert---->
The Kansas City Star
Lawyers for a Northland couple pushed back hard against police Thursday for saying their clients have stopped cooperating in the search for their missing 11-month-old daughter.
Police also have pushed Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin unreasonably for a confession, their lawyers contend.
“To (police), refusing to cooperate means not wanting to sign a confession,” said Sean O’Brien, one of the attorneys.
“That’s ridiculous,” said police spokesman Steve Young. Officers merely want to get the truth and a fresh interview with the couple would be a good start, he said.
In an interview with The Star, O’Brien and attorney Cyndy Short said they have begun to set boundaries for how Bradley and Irwin deal with investigators.
But they said the parents still answer questions from investigators and are prepared to continue cooperating.
Short is local counsel for New York attorney Joseph Tacopina, and O’Brien works with the Innocence Project at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Just two days after Lisa Irwin disappeared from her Northland home on Oct. 4, a police spokesman announced that her parents had stopped cooperating with investigators. The family then released a statement to reporters disputing that.
Since then, police and the family and its attorneys have sparred over what constitutes cooperation.
Short, a veteran criminal defense lawyer, said Bradley and Irwin have continued to have regular and productive contact with investigators, have permitted numerous searches of their property and have willingly provided DNA, fingerprint and hair samples to investigators.
They stand ready to do more for police, said Short, who is working on the case pro bono.
“We’ve told them, if you need anything we can provide it,” Short said.
Police spokesman Young responded that the last time the couple consented to an “unrestricted” interview was Oct. 8.
“What we need from them, and what we are not getting, is for them to sit down with our detectives and get answers to the questions we need answered,” Young said.
O’Brien, a law professor who briefly represented the couple during the Oct. 8 interview, said Bradley and Irwin’s strained relationship with police stems, in part, from investigators’ pursuit of them as suspects. Police also have not kept the family informed about the search for Lisa, which has been a strain on the family, he said.
“They read the newspaper to hear about progress in the investigation,” O’Brien said.
He said police clearly have concluded that Bradley and Irwin know more than they’ve told about Lisa’s disappearance.
During the Oct. 8 interview, O’Brien said, police advanced theories that perhaps Lisa had died in a simple accident at the home, or that one of the parents had shaken the baby to death in a fit of irritation or anger.
“I’m sure if I wouldn’t have been there, it would have been more heavy-handed,” O’Brien said.
Young rejected O’Brien’s suggestion that investigators pushed unreasonably for a confession.
“I’m sure all reasonable people understand that finding out what the parents in the home know is a crucial step in finding the girl,” Young said.
Although Short has been on the case for only a few days, she already has begun cataloging the contact that Bradley and Irwin have had with investigators since they first called the 911 dispatcher.
Thus far, according to Short, the couple has allowed police to:
Take their computer; call an Amber Alert, knowing that it would bring federal investigators into the case; take their other two children for forensic interviews; have the complete run of their home, their vehicles, a shed and a pop-up camper; take DNA and other biological evidence; obtain Lisa’s medical records, including those for well-baby visits; and conduct a polygraph examination on Bradley.
evil police!! they don't want to find the baby!
oh they're pissed. the computer has photos they could be selling.
who the hell wouldn't welcome an Amber Alert?? WTF!
what the hell, the lawyers are acting like the parents did them a favor! when fact is police would have obtained warrants anyway!
and why hasn't the daddy taken a poly?? it does not matter he was not home at those hours. we don't even know what hours matter here anymore.
this reeks.
![[Image: united_states_of_mind_kill_the_bullshit.jpg]](http://beattrotterz.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/united_states_of_mind_kill_the_bullshit.jpg)
The Kansas City Star
Lawyers for a Northland couple pushed back hard against police Thursday for saying their clients have stopped cooperating in the search for their missing 11-month-old daughter.
Police also have pushed Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin unreasonably for a confession, their lawyers contend.
“To (police), refusing to cooperate means not wanting to sign a confession,” said Sean O’Brien, one of the attorneys.
“That’s ridiculous,” said police spokesman Steve Young. Officers merely want to get the truth and a fresh interview with the couple would be a good start, he said.
In an interview with The Star, O’Brien and attorney Cyndy Short said they have begun to set boundaries for how Bradley and Irwin deal with investigators.
But they said the parents still answer questions from investigators and are prepared to continue cooperating.
Short is local counsel for New York attorney Joseph Tacopina, and O’Brien works with the Innocence Project at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Just two days after Lisa Irwin disappeared from her Northland home on Oct. 4, a police spokesman announced that her parents had stopped cooperating with investigators. The family then released a statement to reporters disputing that.
Since then, police and the family and its attorneys have sparred over what constitutes cooperation.
Short, a veteran criminal defense lawyer, said Bradley and Irwin have continued to have regular and productive contact with investigators, have permitted numerous searches of their property and have willingly provided DNA, fingerprint and hair samples to investigators.
They stand ready to do more for police, said Short, who is working on the case pro bono.
“We’ve told them, if you need anything we can provide it,” Short said.
Police spokesman Young responded that the last time the couple consented to an “unrestricted” interview was Oct. 8.
“What we need from them, and what we are not getting, is for them to sit down with our detectives and get answers to the questions we need answered,” Young said.
O’Brien, a law professor who briefly represented the couple during the Oct. 8 interview, said Bradley and Irwin’s strained relationship with police stems, in part, from investigators’ pursuit of them as suspects. Police also have not kept the family informed about the search for Lisa, which has been a strain on the family, he said.
“They read the newspaper to hear about progress in the investigation,” O’Brien said.
He said police clearly have concluded that Bradley and Irwin know more than they’ve told about Lisa’s disappearance.
During the Oct. 8 interview, O’Brien said, police advanced theories that perhaps Lisa had died in a simple accident at the home, or that one of the parents had shaken the baby to death in a fit of irritation or anger.
“I’m sure if I wouldn’t have been there, it would have been more heavy-handed,” O’Brien said.
Young rejected O’Brien’s suggestion that investigators pushed unreasonably for a confession.
“I’m sure all reasonable people understand that finding out what the parents in the home know is a crucial step in finding the girl,” Young said.
Although Short has been on the case for only a few days, she already has begun cataloging the contact that Bradley and Irwin have had with investigators since they first called the 911 dispatcher.
Thus far, according to Short, the couple has allowed police to:
Take their computer; call an Amber Alert, knowing that it would bring federal investigators into the case; take their other two children for forensic interviews; have the complete run of their home, their vehicles, a shed and a pop-up camper; take DNA and other biological evidence; obtain Lisa’s medical records, including those for well-baby visits; and conduct a polygraph examination on Bradley.
evil police!! they don't want to find the baby!
oh they're pissed. the computer has photos they could be selling.
who the hell wouldn't welcome an Amber Alert?? WTF!
what the hell, the lawyers are acting like the parents did them a favor! when fact is police would have obtained warrants anyway!
and why hasn't the daddy taken a poly?? it does not matter he was not home at those hours. we don't even know what hours matter here anymore.
this reeks.