Constitutional Law
Surviving Dad Seeks No-Contact Order for Defense Counsel in Family Murder
Posted Jul 17, 2009 3:28 PM CST
By Martha Neil
A father and physician who was the sole survivor of a deadly home invasion in Connecticut is seeking a court order barring the suspects and their legal counsel from contacting him.
The motion filed this week on behalf of Dr. William Petit of Cheshire seeks a court order barring such contact "whether direct or indirect, in recognition of the victim's rights to be treated with fairness and the be reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process as guaranteed" in the Connecticut constitution, reports the Hartford Courant.
It was filed by a state victim's advocacy office.
Lawyers for the two murder suspects declined comment when contacted by the newspaper.
The article says Petit received a letter from a North Carolina attorney who described herself as a victim liaison offering a "line of communication" from one of the defense lawyers, who had asked her to "assist in outreach" to the physician.
The doctor's wife and their two daughters were killed in the 2007 attack in their home.
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Comments
JStocker
Jul 18, 2009 10:37 AM CST
Someone should advise the idiot defense attorney that the criminals have had enough “outreach” with this family. Specifically, rape and murder of 3 innocent women (one a child) and the merciless beating of the husband/father is enough outreach.
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cbennett
Jul 20, 2009 11:47 AM CST
The family has every right to refuse to talk to the defense attorneys. However, I wonder about the intelligence and ethics of a person who calls another lawyer an “idiot” for doing his or her constitutionally mandated job. Perhaps it is ok in your practice to select some of your clients for substandard and ineffective representation. Most of us give our best effort to every client we represent.
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