In Jan. 2013, the body of a high school student was located rolled up in a gym mat in a Georgia high school. Another boy who was apparently a student at the time of the incident was brought in for questioning after telling some of his neighbors that he had heard two other students discussing the hand that they had allegedly had in the boy’s death. However, police recently arrested the student who provided police with a statement on felony charges.
Initially, the now 19-year-old male disclosed the first names of two students who he claimed to overhear discussing the other student’s death. When police went looking for those two students, they could only locate one with the same name, and he denied ever saying anything of the sort. After that, police re-questioned the man who had originally given them that statement.
However, when he could not provide authorities with any further information, he claimed that the police would not relent with their questioning, so he resorted to saying that he’d simply made it up. This prompted a charge for giving false statements. The mother has pointed out that her son has mental problems that prevent him from functioning at a normal level. According to her, the police’s methods of questioning her son were not conducive to his mental restrictions.
For an individual who is still so young, the conviction of a felony charge can have serious and life-long implications. The defendant who gave police information concerning the death of the Georgia high school student has since asserted that he was telling the police the truth with his original statement, but after they refused to leave him alone, he felt he had little choice left but to rescind the information that he had provided. Although no court date has been set as of yet, reviewing his charge with legal counsel to determine how best to proceed may be well advised. For some, garnering the most favorable outcome possible may mean fighting the felony charges to their fullest extent throughout the entirety of trial court proceedings, while others may decide that a plea deal will ultimately be the best decision.
Source: CNN, “Mom slams arrest of son who said he heard confession in Georgia gym death“, Victor Blackwell, Aug. 15, 2014
