A 17-year-old boy faces life in prison for allegedly shooting a father and his 12-year-old son in June 2008, but Whittier Daily News reports that the teenager hopes to avoid a murder charge based on "reasonable doubt."
A downtown Los Angeles jury began deliberating the murder charges on Monday. Angel Sosa, who was accused of the murdering the two people at a Montebello high school graduation party, was just 15 years old at the time of the shooting. Because of his age, he is not eligible for the death penalty.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Jeri Polen has asked the jury to find Angel Sosa "not guilty" because there's not enough evidence to prove that he was the shooter. A dozen witnesses reportedly could not identify the defendant as the gunman or picked somebody other than Angel Sosa when they were shown a photo lineup by Montebello police detectives.
In the American legal system, a defendant is innocent until he or she is proven guilty -- not the other way around. So, it is the prosecutor's role to prove that there is no reasonable doubt of a person's guilt. FindLaw states that such standards are very high, so many Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys will try to raise some reasonable doubt to the prosecutor's allegations.
This is just one reason why it's so important for a suspect to have a skilled Los Angeles criminal defense attorney. An experienced attorney can evaluate the evidence in a case and raise doubt in allegations, if there's not enough evidence.
Related Resources:
- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (LawBrain)
- Find a Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney (FindLaw)
- Criminal Procedure FAQ (FindLaw)
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