Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Wisconsin

My name is Brenda Matthews and I live in Madison Wisconsin. My son who was 8yrs old at the time of the incident, Nathaniel Matthews was outside playing with his friends. The day before that, one of his friends Cameron who is 9 also came running up to my vehicle after my husband and I and Nathaniel had just came back from grocery shopping. He told Nathaniel that he has a baby bird in his house and do he want to see it? Nathaniel went into his house to see the baby bird while we unloaded the groceries. On the 9th, my son was brought to us by a police officer. The officer said that my son and a few other kids was being accused of mistreating a mother bird. he said that the mother Robin was dead. Nate told him that he didn't do it so the officer left. He returned after 2hrs and said that he had to take Nate down to the station because all of the kids said he killed the bird. Nate denied it but he took him anyway, finger printed him/took his picture, can they do that based on hear say?


Asked on 5/25/10, 7:21 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Safran Samster, Konkel & Safran, S.C.

Although I am somewhat shocked that the police would go this far in a situation like this, including "booking" your 8 year old son, they have apparently chosen to do what they think is appropriate. The police will need to investigate the entire situation and then decide whether to refer their investigation to the prosecutors for review and a determination whether a juvenile charge should be issued against your son or anyone else. I would recommend that you consutl with an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible to get him/her involved with the case to contact the police to find out what is happening and to attempt to get this resolved before it goes any further.

Read more
Answered on 5/26/10, 9:31 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Civil Rights Law questions and answers in Wisconsin