Re: Local crime story (And stories like this?)

artyw2@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Last July a 7 year old boy disappeared from a local community. His
parents said he "ran away." There was a big search, but he never
turned up until this week when his father led police to the body. Both
parents are blaming each other for the killing.
In the absence of other witnesses or a direct confession, it seems like
it might be difficult to convict either parent if both accuse the
other. In fact, it might even be a strategy. Would you epxect both
parents to have separate trials? Would they appear as witnesses in each
others trials?
Any fictional parallels? There must be some.
Richard Price's Freedomland* is similar in that a parent reports a
missing child and there is a big hunt, but there is only one parent
involved. *Soon to be a motion picture.


Since the father knew of the whereabouts of the body, he is at least an accessory after the fact. Then there is the question of how the body was moved to the location where it was hidden. Could the mother alone have moved it? Could the father have moved it alone? Then there is the problem of eliminating all traces of evidence that might have adhered to the body. Granted that the passage of time would aid the killer(s) in that regard, but maybe not enough.

As to joint or separate trials, I think that the State will want a single trial so that they cannot play that game. On a motion to sever, I tend to think that the judge would probably deny the motion. Even if the motion to sever is granted, in the first trial, you would hardly expect the spouse not being tried to testify, given that that person's trial is yet to come. (Simultaneous separate trials is a fiction of "Law and Order".)

Sometimes reality mimics a law school exam.


Francis A. Miniter
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