Archives : Crime

Wrongfully Charged Victims

Wrongly Accused in Sex / Murder Case

 

Many innocent persons are wrongly charged victims as a result of police suspecting them of a crime based upon a wrong tip or bad evidence. Their lives are affected when their homes, businesses and personal property are searched, their names are put in the newspaper and their reputations are tarnished with being accused of a crime. Even after they are acquitted or charges are dropped, their lives can continue to be disrupted under the cloud of suspicion initially raised against them.

Matthew Hurayt  Case

Take for instance the Matthew Hurayt  Case. In 2006, Matthew Hurayt and his roommate John McDonough were arrested because a tipster told police that Hurayt had raped and killed De Jesus and buried her body under his new garage. Police searched Hurayt ’s house, dug up his yard and under his garage looking for De Jesus’ remains, which were not found. After spending a weekend in jail for suspicion of aggravated murder of De Jesus, who vanished mysteriously in 2004, Hurayt, a convicted sex offender, and his roommate were ordered released by a Judge on September 25, 2006, who rejected the assistant county prosecutor’s request to increase the bond on an unrelated assault case.

Hurayt subsequently filed a claim for compensation for $20,000 in damages to his property with the city’s Moral Claims Commission, but the claim was rejected.  In 2006, he was convicted on an assault case and released in 2010.  For the past three years, he has been harassed by people who broke his windows, set fire to his garage and harassed him with telephone calls thinking he was still connected to Gena De Jesus’ case.

Gena De Jesus along with victims Amanda Berry and Michele Knight were found alive on Monday May 6, 2013, after a 911 call led police to a house in Cleveland, Ohio where the three young women had been held in captivity for approximately 10 years. In a press conference, De Jesus’ mother called upon the community not to retaliate against the family of the three suspects arrested in the girls’ kidnapping case, referring to the Castro brothers.

Ohio Criminal Defense Attorney Can Help Wrongfully Accused

If you have been wrongfully accused of a crime, an Ohio criminal defense attorney can help you fight the charges and clear your good name and reputation to get the charges acquitted or the case dismissed. Your Ohio criminal defense attorney can also determine if your records can be sealed and help you with the process so that your life is not further disrupted, making it more difficult to find a place to live or a job.  In the circumstance above, Hurayt was convicted of another case and had to register as a sex offender regardless of the false accusations surrounding the De Jesus case.  Our legal system has a basic footing in which “the law presumes that persons charged with a crime are innocent until they are proven by competent evidence to be guilty.”  This quote is found in the comments on Supreme Court case Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432 (1895).

 

 

 

 

NFL Saints’ Bounty Scandal

NFL rules prevent that any bonus or award be offered to players directly or indirectly for personal fouls or injuries intentionally inflicted against opposing players. Gregg Williams, assistant coach of the Saints, who left after 36-32 playoff defeat to the San Francisco 49 team, to become the St. Louis Ram’s defensive coordinator, was suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for violating the pay to injure bounty rule. Assistant coach Williams was allegedly heard on an audio tape offering his team bonuses to injure opposing players on the San Francisco 49 team, including running back Frank Gore, quarterback Alex Smith, wideout Michael Crabtree and backup receiver Kyle Williams. Williams’ speech was delivered less than two months before the Saints’ bounty scandal became public and was revealed to Yahoo! Sports by Sean Pamphilon, who had access to the team’s functions during the 2011 season.

The NFL has also decided to uphold its discipline ruling of Sean Payton, the former New Orleans Saints coach, who has been suspended for the entire 2012 season, general manager  Mickey Loomis, who has been suspended for eight games and assistant coach Joe Vitt, who has been suspended for six games regarding the New Orleans Saints’ “bounty program”. The NFL Players Association has retained the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski to represent the union in the “bounty” program matter and to work with the NFLPA lawyers in assisting the players who were allegedly involved with representation in the “bounty” program. The League is still deciding whether 27 players who were involved in the bounty program which was in place during the 2009 to 2011 seasons will also be disciplined.

Possible Criminal Charges

While players could face criminal charges relating to this bounty program, a majority of legal scholars agree that it would be rare for prosecutors to charge players for on field acts since sport leagues generally have the authority to police themselves, and cases are tough for prosecutors to prove that football injuries were caused by an accidental assault or battery. However, players could be charged with conspiracy to commit assault and battery under state or federal laws if it can be established that the Saints were conducting a criminal activity by enticing players to injure others for money.

According to the NFL investigation, the Saints bounty system included payouts of $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000 for “cart-offs.” There was also alleged evidence of a $10,000 bounty on Brett Favre and a $5,000 bounty on Aaron Rodgers. Therefore, players could also be charged with tax evasion regarding the alleged payouts if they received the money and never declare it on their tax returns. However, since Favre and Rodgers were never knocked out even though they were targeted there would be no tax evasion charges regarding bounties on them.

Hire a Criminal Defense Attorney

If you have been charged with an assault or battery case or conspiracy to commit an assault and/or battery or are facing other criminal charges, you should contact a criminal defense attorney to defend your rights. The attorney can vigorously build a strong defense on your behalf, negotiate with prosecutors to reduce your charges or get you community service, probation or your charges suspended.