Statements suppressed in Cristian Fernandez case
August 7, 2012 2 Comments
Cristian Fernandez
Judge Mallory Cooper suppressed both statements 12 year old Cristian Fernandez made when he was interrogated by police two separate times. These statements were critical evidence in the prosecution’s case against the boy. The prosecution includes Jacksonville State Attorney Angela Corey who originally brought all of the charges against Cristian, and then refused to allow his case to go to juvenile court despite being asked to do so by over 190,000 people.
The State Attorney refused to consider any mitigating factors in Cristian’s case, including: his age, upbringing, exposure to many forms of abuse, and statements made by psychologists who assessed him.
This marks a change in the tide that has seemed to persistently go against Cristian during the past year and a half. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end when it comes to the prosecution’s senseless pursuit of a conviction against the child in adult criminal court.
But when all is finally said and done, will there be any accountability for those who could have prevented this tragedy from occurring, but didn’t? Such as various social services agencies in Florida, including the one in Jacksonville who failed to intervene when the family’s troubles came to their attention before that fateful day in March? Will there be any call for responsibility on the part of the State Attorney who got the ball of injustice rolling, despite all of the evidence suggesting this case was nowhere near as simple as she suggested it was? And who kept that ball rolling when the public made it clear they did not support her decisions?
I highly doubt it. In any event, the judge’s decision today reminds all of us who are in support of Cristian that the smaller victories over time add up in these cases. It is a reminder that even when it seems that hope is absent and lost and lost for good, it isn’t.
Hope is never completely lost.
Read a comprehensive write up on Cristian’s case here.
Contact me if you would like to send cards, postcards, or letters of support to Cristian to help him sustain hope.
About justice4juveniles
Wow This is really good news for Cristian, I will be surprised if this does anything to Miss Corey. She is an evil that people are scared of in Fla! I know you have worked hard on this case and I think it’s a nice Step!
Litith not everyone in Florida is afraid of Miss (Angela) Corey, they are afriad of corrupt legal practices, unfair and unjust court trials, and pedadogies against the oppressed.
When we uncover the blatant, discriminatory practices of the criminal and civil justice system then we will prove the “deliberate indifference” and the “intentional disregard of the money making machine called the prison industrial complex. Only then will we become closer to the apparatus considered We The People and then there will be justice for all the Christian Fernandez’.