Brother is in jail for attempted murder...how can I help him???

Question

He is in jail for attempted murder of a police officer because he supposedly rammed a police car with his truck which was stolen. He says he wasnt trying to kill the officer he was trying to get away and didnt clear the back of the vehicle. His charges state 2 other officers as witnesses but in the narrative written by the police officer he supposedly attempted to kill it states that those two officers didnt join the story till after they would have seen the crime. (timeline doesnt add up...he being followed by cop,hits his brakes, cop slides past him, he tries to flee, hits cop car, cop takes off in front of him radios for help, gets off at next exit with my brother "chasing him", my brother stays on the highway, cop gets back on the highway and is joined by the other officers, my brother pulls over and surrenders...) In the charges it states that there are 2 witnesses to the ramming of the police vehicle and the same two witnesses for the attempted murder charge.How does that add up?

He is not dangerous at all, in fact when I have told people, his friends and people in our family they can not believe it at all because he is so easy going and laid back he would never harm someone else purposefully, in fact since he has been in jail he found a cricket and named him "hopper" and was keeping him as a pet, that is until one of his cellmates got in trouble and the guards came in to search their cell. One of the guards got mad at my brother because he wouldnt snitch on his cell mate (good way to get hurt) so he took my brothers pet and put him in a cup on his desk so he would starve to death and die... So there are messed up people everywhere. Even in law enforcement!
Also just so you and everyone knows, if something is a part of public record you can talk about it anywhere it won't be considered evidence any more than it already is!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

The best way to help him is to get the jury to feel sorry for your brother. If you make them cry, he is free. Why did he steal the truck? If you can come up with a good reason why he was there (running with a bad crowd) or something that wasn't his fault, you can create a doubt in their minds that your brother is guilty. Once there is doubt one or two will vote for him which will create a hung jury. If that can happen several times they will let him go. That is your best chance, but in my oppinion he brought it on himself. Stealing a truck then trying to get away from police? OUCH!!

Answer 2

Other than resurrecting Johnny Cochran from the dead the best thing you can do for him is to try and get him the best defense attorney that is available in your area. It may be possible for some sort of insanity plea since there have been a few cases where the fleeing driver stated that they were so frightened by the lights that they were not about to stop, although that theory kind of got blown when he surrendered to the police. A motor vehicle is classified as a deadly weapon and in most states is classified as a third degree felony and carries a hefty jail sentence just as it would have been a gun, and even more so since it was against a police officer. The charge may eventual be lowed if they can not prove intent to injure easily and their story's don't exactly add up. At any rate he is going to spend some major time in jail since it will not just be the attempted murder charge but a combination of all the other charges, speeding, failure to stop to a police officer, and any other violations they can dig up, especially is this is not his first offense. Good Luck.

Answer 3

Since he really stole the car, there isn't much you or he can do. You've already established he was trying to run from the cops which is an offense already. Once you flee from the cops, that's it. Also he could have thrown a plastic fork at the cop, once you physically make contact with a cop in a fleeing, resisting arrest or any other situation, you can be charged with assault on an officer. Since he had a two ton weapon(the truck) the charge is greater.
I know you want to be a good sister but the best you can do is hire him a public defender or lawyer. Step back and let him handle this on his own hopefully it will teach him to not commit crime in the future.

Answer 4

In answer to your question, you will probably need to hire a good attorney... save up lots of $$$... there may be a lawyers out there who are not in it for the money but good luck finding them, I'm sorry to say... (but still there is hope!)

As far as fleeing, ANY TIME you flee from the cops, even if all they were going to do is give you a speeding ticket or something minor, is pretty much an automatic felony. Hitting the cop car, its at least attempted capital murder. I'm sorry but I'm in agreement w/ the rest of the folks here, he would have been much better off just stopping cold where he was. He may not 'have meant to' but when the cops say 'pull over' they mean it!

Answer 5

For starters, he is going to need a good Attorney. It's sad that police, and prosecuters can trump up charges to make an accident look like attempted murder. I'm not saying your brother was totally innocent, because he was trying to flee from the cops, but in today's world there is no such thing as an accident, or a young person making a horrible mistake, or simply poor judgement. If you commit a crime you must be a "hardened criminal" whether you are 12 or 56 and it's your 1st offence doesn't seem to matter anymore.

What really makes me sick is when they try young children (under 16), as adults, and send them to adult prisons. Lets just teach our children how to BECOME hardened criminals, not possibly rehabilitate them. And let them get raped by the other prisoners, let us not forget that. Doesn't it take a village to raise a child? Maybe we should be teaching parenting classes in the 1st year of high school, and make it a 4 year requirement.

Kids, especially are not allowed to make mistakes or have poor judgement..."they should know better", even though so many are growing up with little or no guidence, or boundries. Many are raised by the TV, and video games, and see the kids on TV or Movies, showing no respect for their parents, having no boundries, drinking, and partying with out consequence, and their parents are not there to tell them it's not how things really work. (Think about the hit show and movie "Jackass"). The video games desensitize them to violence, and teach them that it's cool to be a criminal and kill and mame, and run from the cops (Grand Theft Auto comes to mind) Then we expect them to know how to behave in the real world. And when they don't "behave" ,and it could be something as minor as running a stop sign, getting stopped, the cop deciding to search the car, with no real reason, and finding a beer bottle under the seat, or God forbid a joint, and then throw the book at them.

We seem to have forgotten that kids are going to experiment with things like smoking, drinking, some will try drugs, some will get hooked and go the wrong direction, so we get some stupid mentality that they will never change, and want to lock them up and throw away the key. Yet a child molester will get a slap on the hand, and put on the offender list, and sit in jail a couple of years, and be set free to do it again. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???????

We have to do something, our prisons are overcrowded with people who don't need to be there, and we are not even trying to rehabilitate them in many states. I think starting at the root of the problem, which is parenting, instead of waiting and reacting to the problem, when it will be much more difficult to deal with, is the pro-active approach we need to take. So kids like this young man can be saved, before it gets to the point of him being charged with attempted murder, just because he accidently plowed in to a police car, in fearful state of mind, and just wanting to get away. He still needs to be punished if a fitting way for the crime, but attempted murder, come on. Let's get real here.

I just don't understand (at least in Florida) why the cops are so eager to arrest any young man, black especially, for any thing they can get them for, and add as many "charges" to the list as possible. Why are they not focusing on the murderers, rapists, child molestors, etc... instead of harrassing our young men?

Answer 6

Fine. Everyone has a story. that is why he will have a trial.

Hitting a cop car while "trying to get away" is pretty much going to be treated harshly by any court.

I suggest *not* posting details like that here or anywhere - it is what the courts like to call "evidence".

Get him a lawyer, and let the lawyer do his or her job. If the evidene is shaky, it will be game for negotiation with the prosecutor for a plea bargain, or if it goes to trial, the jury will hear all sides and see all evidence and act accordingly.

Answer 7

Well, while i think your brother is a dick who brought it upon himself (he shouldnt have been trying to get away, he should have stopped) chances are when it goes to court the charges will be lowered to something like aggravated vehicular assult on a police officer. Which is still very serious. Your brother is going away for quite a while, you can count on that.

Answer 8

Prove that the act of your brother was not intentional in order that the charge of murder be dropped. The narration must be detailed and other evidence must be gathered to prove the absence of intent to kill.

Answer 9

doesn't, lawyer time. Also go to Jimmy Swaggart Minestries on line and buy him the $30, 2500 page expositer's Bible. Hurry before they go back to $125, it will help him in the long run and explain everything to him. We'll say a prayer.

Answer 10

your brother made a big mistake
1) charges increase when a civil servant is involved
2) why steal a car/truck in the first place
3)he is lucky he is only charged w/ Attempted murder
4)hits a child on a bike or walking across the street
5) hits a gang member (not saying he was !!!!)
and they retaliate against your whole fam.!!!!
6)for get about the tax $$$ that we have to pay for his JOY RIDE??
7)POLICE ARE THERE FOR A REASON YOU CRY NO COPS WHEN YOU NEED THEM BUT WHEN THEY DO THEIR JOB PEOPLE CRY WOLF!!!!
8)now ask your self ,,,,hey the house on fire but don't need fire dept. ,sum 1 robbing me don't call the cop's, hey mom's having a heart attack ,, but don,t call the ambulance!!!! someone stole my purse at the mall but the cop was busy w/a fender bender just outside !!!
so don't try to justify your brother send his *** to jail he is a CROOK trying to kill cops that get paid less than most make at a fast food rest. my advice the next time you see a cop on the side of the road ,go buy him/her a cold bottle of water and tell them thanks!!!! because you make more than they do at mc--e---dees but don't have people shooting at you and trying to run you over in a STOLEN TRUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!