Justice is supposed to be blind to those details that play off of our emotions when someone is facing criminal charges. Unfortunately, Quincy residents know that this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the eye-popping aspects of criminal allegations overshadow the nature of what a defendant is actually accused of.
An area man’s case serves as an example. The man, who is in his late twenties, picked up his elderly grandmother from a nursing home recently. The man was unemployed and known to battle drug addiction. He went with his grandmother to her bank, where she was going to withdraw money for him – something she had done for him before.
Although the grandmother went with the young man voluntarily and was aware they were going to take money out of her account for him, her family coordinated with the bank to have police arrest the grandson at the bank. According to his attorney, he panicked when he saw the police coming and tried to speed away. Police chased him down and eventually took him into custody. No one was hurt.
Among several traffic charges related to the chase, the young man is also charged with abuse/mistreatment of an elderly person. He has pled not guilty in Quincy District Court, and his attorney has tried to focus on the traffic violation charges. He emphasized that the grandmother was not harmed or in any way neglected and, again, that she went knowingly and voluntarily with her grandson.
Indeed, as criminal defense professionals can attest, sometimes the type of allegations levied against an individual can create an uphill battle when trying to prove one’s innocence. This is why it is critical to aggressively utilize the evidence at one’s disposal to ensure that his or her defense is as strong as possible given the circumstances An experienced legal professional may be able to help craft legal arguments to support a defendant’s position
Source: The Boston Globe, “Randolph man charged with taking cancer-stricken grandma for ride to withdraw cash,” Emily Sweeney, May 2, 2018