Thursday, March 3, 2011

the Life story of Jordan Brown in Penn?

Hi Friends; Meet Jordan. Jordan Brown. 11-years old. Jordan was pulled from his class and questioned by the police, with the presence of another state worker, his guidance counselor acting in stead of his parent or lawyer, and is informed that his step mother has been shot and is dead, does he know anything about it? Oh, don't worry, the police also questioned his 7-yr.old sister. Same way. Jordan has been in jail since shortly after that. Yep. They believe he did this act. Evidence? A shotgun....he hunts and shoots, a typical activity of mid-western youth. Splattered with blood? No. It needed to be cleaned, as he and his father were shooting that weekend and hadn't cleaned it yet, but no blood. Evidently Jordan was smart enough to keep the blood off of the gun from a close range shot, but didn't think to clean it. Oh, well, surely he was peppered with blood, right? no. Gun powder residue? no. They found two small specks....and remember, he was shooting just that weekend with his father at targets. What is the evidence against him? Well, his story is not fully consistent. Yep, a kid of 11 isn't sure what happened when after being told that someone who not only lived in his home was shot and killed, but that it happened in his home. You'd think he'd know exactly what to say. Oh, and the 7-yr old thinks she saw him with the gun that day and that she heard a bang. This only after extensive questioning by the police, actually a second series of extensive questioning, and all after being told her step-mother was dead just down the hall from her bedroom. Surely her memory of events would be unshakable, right? Ok, well, she didn't bother to check on her step mother after supposing to have heard a big bang after supposedly seeing her brother with a gun, but surely that's immaterial, right? Oh, also she said that she noticed he dropped something on the way to school....an empty shotgun shell was found near where she said she thought she saw him drop something. Yep. That must mean that he did it. We won't consider at all the fact that the shell could have been there from some other time. Nope, completely irrelevant. Why is this an issue? Why hasn't the guys from csi come riding on the scene with loads of evidence? Well, there doesn't appear to be any. He is expected to prove that he didn't do it. Further, he is being charged as an adult.....at 11. Why, because the judge doesn't feel he is showing enough remorse - for what? He said he didn't do it. What sort of remorse is necessary then? Isn't the definition of remorse sadness due to guilt? Don't worry, they only had him in the adult jail for a few days....5. Then they transferred the boy of 11 years old to a juvenile placement after getting a judge to ok that. Seems appropriate... he is a juvenile, right? I can't believe you hadn't heard of all of this! Surely it's in all the papers. Oh yeah, maybe it was because that was two years ago and he is still in jail.... without trial, evidence, and with a life sentence hanging over his head if convicted as an adult. The prosecutor seems fairly intent upon that. - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - So, here come the questions.
  • When did it become acceptable for the authorities to circumvent the rights of the child by questioning him without a parent or lawyer?
  • How is it that an 11-yr old boy is expected to know enough to commit such a crime without getting a realistic degree of particle evidence on him or his clothes and yet be so dumb as to be seen carrying a gun to the stepmother's room? And, why is that information only due to considerable questioning of a seven year old girl after the shock of learning her step mother is now dead? Further, why is that information so compelling when it is obviously suspect, at best, for idea planting by the police to a traumatized and impressionable 2nd grader?
  • Why is it that bond is not available? Do they feel he would be a flight risk? How far can you get on a Schwinn?
  • Why does one need to be remorseful about something to which he is pleading Not Guilty in order to be given the appropriate protections of the law?
  • How much evidence and reason is appropriate to determine that a child, who is not able to get into movies with strong language, has the other adult faculties necessary and should be tried as an adult?
There's no denying that a woman and her unborn child is dead. There's no fact that takes that away. I hope you will investigate this further. I'm sure I didn't do the best job here. It is even possible the kid did it. But, is it unreasonable to expect that the state have some evidence worth of the name before trying to take away the life of an 11-yr old suspect? Is it just a word of convenience that calls an 11-yr old a 'child' - to be removed and listed as an adult at the state's whim?

7 comments:

Sammy B said...

Hello Randy
Repressive regimes always attack the easiest targets. I'm afraid the phrase 'The Land of the Free' sounds more ironic by the day.

Love & best wishes
Sammy B

Anonymous said...

Hi Randy,
is there no minimum age for children in the criminal code in the USA? Here in Germany each child below the age of 14 is not indictable.
It's not acceptable, that the process after 2 years is still open. Ashme to USA - the world police!
Nikki

randy said...

Hi Sammy and Nikki;
You both hit this so very much right on the mark. I am amazed by some of the things that seem to find there way through the cracks here. But, I'm less shocked every day - all the sadder. From what I read, Penn has a matter of law that anyone over ten! is charged as an adult in such a case. Baffling!!
Thank you both for the comments. -randy

Anonymous said...

Hello Randy. This stuns me. Oh My Gods, where did you hear of this, and thank the Gods you are wiling to write about it. If there is one of these it is too many, but where there is one...there normally is more. I want to link to this. Thanks and many hugs,
Scottie

randy said...

Hi Scottie;
You are so right. Where there is one you can be sure there are more, and even one is way too many. I am blown away that people forget that this is a child. It's horribly sad on so many levels.
I will email you with the links. I have to find them again. Dumb me, I should have included them in the story. Well, hindsight 20/20....
-randy.

Melissa said...

Thank you for writing about Jordan Brown. I run a discussion/informational forum about Jordan and have been trying to educate people on the facts of his case. If you feel inclined to want to help please stop by, register for membership, and delve in. Thanks so much. freejordanbrown dot com

randy said...

Hi Melissa;
It is a true shame on this country's "justice" system to have this young man go through this. I am looking forward to the opportunity to "delve" in a bit...though I have a suspicion that it will be depressing. Further, I will spread the word as able.
-randy