

Desk blotter pad driver#
“That’s the getaway car driver who didn't actually go in and rob the store at gunpoint. “They have to show the parents aided and abetted crime in some way for there to be an accountability based charge,” Cain said. That's difficult in a scenario where the defendant didn't personally take action, said Paul Cain, a professor of law at Northern Illinois University. Proving a criminal charge requires convincing jurors or a judge of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. WHY IS IT RARE FOR PARENTS TO FACE CHARGES?
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When the younger Crimo applied for a state gun license in December 2019, his father supported it, a requirement for applicants who are under 21. Police have said father Bob Crimo - a former candidate for mayor of Highland Park - later told investigators the knives belonged to him, and authorities returned them. "The individual told police he did not feel like hurting himself or others and was offered mental health resources,” the statement said. In September 2019, police returned after a family member reported that Crimo had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.” But according to Illinois State Police, both Crimo and his mother disputed the threat of violence.

In April 2019, Crimo attempted suicide by machete, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press that noted a “history of attempts.” Police have said Crimo had two previous encounters with authorities. He was charged as an adult with murder and terrorism. One exception is still moving through a Michigan state court, where in December a prosecutor charged the parents of a 15-year-old boy with involuntary manslaughter following the fatal shooting of four students at the teenager's high school. The prosecutor there has said no one else is expected to be criminally charged, although court filings indicate the parents may face at least one lawsuit. That is the case in the May 14 shooting in Buffalo, New York, where 10 Black people died in an attack by an 18-year-old white gunman. More often, they face civil lawsuits where legal standards of proof are less stringent. Legal experts, though, said it's incredibly difficult to prove criminal charges against a shooter's parent or guardian. “But the more we understand about gun violence on the whole, the more we understand that other people made it possible.” “For too long we have only held the individual that’s pulled the trigger accountable for their actions that have led to the violence,” said Christian Heyne, vice president of policy at the Brady campaign. Anti-gun violence advocates are encouraged to see police and prosecutors investigating anyone who may have contributed to the attack, including the accused shooter's parents.
