The Hardin Family Lawsuit against Commonwealth of KY., et al; filed May 14, 2003; Page 19

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incriminating statements. Id. at 434. Relying on the extra caution to be given to juvenile admissions as suggested by Re Gault and the concern of the legislature in drafting the juvenile code to protect the rights of accused juveniles, the court of appeals found the statements inadmissible. Id.

C. Under the totality of the circumstances in Aaron’s case, his oral statements to Officer Boggs and Detective Eastham were not voluntary. This inexperienced, immature fifteen-year-old child was visibly distraught, covered in his own brother’s blood, and strategically separated from is parents. (TAPE No. 047; 7/13/00; 10:46:37 - 10:48:08, 10:51:55 - 10:54:21; TAPE No. 078-2; 12/14/00; 12:04:40 - 12:04:57) No effort was made by the police to contact the parents, even though the police knew that the parents were at the hospital. (TAPE No. 047; 7/31/00; 10:51:19 - 10:51:36) In addition, Sergeant Eastham urged Aaron to “come clean” for the sake of his brother and mother. (TAPE No. 047; 7/31/00; 10:53:42 - 10:54:21; TAPE No. 078-2; 12/14/00; 11:55:19 - 11:55:27, 12:04:10 - 12:04:37)

D. Although Aaron may not have initially been a suspect, the tenor of the interview changed drastically when no evidence of a drive-by shooting was found. At this time, Officer Boggs claimed that he advised Aaron of his Miranda rights. (TAPE No. 047; 7/31/00; 10:24:01 - 10:28:05) Although Officer Boggs theorized that Aaron was not in custody until that point, Aaron was never advised that he was free to leave. (Id.) In fact Aaron thought the police would eventually take him to the hospital to see his brother. Further, no attempts were made to contact the parents when Aaron’s status changed from a mere witness to a full-fledged suspect. Nor were the parents advised that Aaron was being taken to headquarters for a taped statement.

E. On Dec. 29, 1999, two days after the shooting, Officer Kent Jones, a traffic officer with the Louisville Police Department, submitted a very suspicious statement to the Police. This statement was wrongfully taken, by Detective Julius Clark, as a report and entered into the police records. Here, Officer Jones falsely stated that he knew that >>>

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