8-Year-Old's Confession Draws Fire

Taped Interrogation Of Child Accused Of Killing Dad "Absurd," Says CBS News Legal Analyst

(CBS/AP)  The 8-year-old boy accused of killing his father and another man in Eastern Arizona was subjected to an "absurd" police interrogation, a legal analyst told CBS' The Early Show Thursday.

"What we know is that children under 12 are especially susceptible to questioning by an adult," legal analyst Lisa Bloom said.

The roughly 12-minute video posted Monday night on Phoenix television station KTVK's Web site shows what police say is a confession to the Nov. 5 shooting deaths. The station said it got the video from the prosecutor's office in Apache County, where the shootings occurred.

"I think I shot my dad because he was suffering, I think," the boy said toward the end of the hour-long interrogation, though Bloom notes that the admission comes only after repeated officer questioning.

"Children tell authority figures what they think the authority figure wants to hear," said Bloom. "This child was not Mirandized; there was no attorney for him in that room; there was no parent or legal guardian. He was simply answering questions by two police officers in uniforms with guns."

On Wednesday, a judge ruled that the boy will be allowed to spend the Thanksgiving holiday next week with his mother, a move that drew criticism from the family of the second victim.

The boy and his mother, Eryn Thomas, sat beside each other in court Wednesday in St. Johns, often leaning over and whispering into one another's ear. The boy, wearing a navy blue shirt and pants, was free from the cuffs he wore in a previous hearing.

Judge Michael Roca agreed to allow the boy to leave juvenile detention from noon on Nov. 26 until noon on Nov. 28. Prosecutor Brad Carlyon objected, citing concerns about the safety of the public.

Defense attorney Ronald Wood said the boy is not doing well and has trouble sleeping in detention. He said it was important that the boy "have somebody to talk to."

Although the boy is allowed time to visit with his mother, stepmother, a grandmother and an aunt, Wood said that time is limited.

The judge said that if the boy doesn't return to detention on time, arrest warrants will be issued for him and his mother. Roca ordered that there be no guns or knives in the home while the boy is free and that the boy not be allowed to play video games or watch TV.

"Let's see how it works," Roca said.

The boy has been charged in juvenile court with two counts of murder in the Nov. 5 shootings of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, a co-worker who was renting a room.

St. Johns police Chief Roy Melnick has said he would push for the boy to be tried as an adult, though some analysts think even a juvenile court trial would be too much.

"Children this age believe in the tooth fairy, they believe in magic … it's absurd," said Bloom. "This child should not be in juvenile court or adult court, in my opinion. He should be a ward of the family court and get some social service attention."

Prosecutors have 15 days to decide if that's the route they want to take.

Roca also granted a defense motion to provide counseling services for the boy. Anything discussed between the boy and the counselor would not be admissible in court, the judge said.

Thomas left the courthouse without commenting to reporters. She lives in Mississippi but said Wednesday in court that she is staying in St. Johns.

Until his arrest, the boy was living with his father and stepmother, who were married in September. Romero had primary custody of the 8-year-old.

A friend of Romans', John Andreas, said outside court that Romans' wife, Tanya, and her family were upset that the boy will be let out for Thanksgiving.

"The family is very distressed. They don't get Tim back, they don't get Vinnie back. But this boy gets to go home, as their lawyers put it, get to have gravy, turkey, and do whatnot," Andreas said.

Police have said the boy confessed and a police video released Tuesday shows the boy telling two investigators that he fired at least two shots at each of the men. But he also gave conflicting reports of his actions that day.

A defense attorney, Benjamin Brewer, has said police overreached in their questioning of the boy, who was not represented by a family member or lawyer during the interview.

Authorities and the defense attorneys have been unable to answer questions about the case since the court issued a gag order. Attorneys for the media argued Wednesday that the gag order is overly broad and asked that it be lifted. Roca denied that request and placed limits on some public records, ordering that written transcripts be substituted for audio and video recordings.

A status conference in the case has been scheduled for Dec. 8.

[fush2]

what does bush have to do with this??

[niceface19]

CBS,ABC,NBC TV shows, all responsible for this child''s behavior.

[cricketbeers]

How can anyone give a RUNDOWN of what happened when there is a GAG ORDER on the case. We''re only fed tidbits that the media wants to feed us...that makes for good business on their part.

Oh, unless you''re the DA in this case who leaks a taped confession which, it seems to me, should make anyone with 1/2 a brain wonder why he leaked it. EVERYONE knows you must have an adult or lawyer present with a juvenile.

[lucidreams]

Can someone give me a rundown of what is most likely to have happened? I mean, everyone thinks something different, but there are too many holes in the story for me to understand anything.

[armydog2]

Reading these posts and I can''t get my head around this whole situation. Some of you want the kid to fry and some of you feel bad for him and he is just a child.
Emotional trauma keeps coming up and could very well have been what led this child to commit this crime if he even did. Was this child afforded his miranda rights and if so did he understand them.Was his mom or a responsible guardian there to help this child during the interrogation? I thought juveniles were supposed to have an adult there during this. If that was my child he would not have been subjected to an interrogation without a lawyer present. You are right this is FUBAR!!!

[owlwomanxxxx]

I think that whole town is nuts

[usmc1968]

After listening to this coercive interrogation it only made more asured this saint johns police department is staffed by idiots, who ought to have never been issued badges, let alone allowed to be the local dog catcher! Any half wit knows a lawyer is necessary for anyone this kids age, and any alleged confession is possibly false at the least, and likely illegal at best, leaving the police officer not fit to wear a uniform or badge, I hope the ACLU sues the city of Saint Johns into bankruptcy!

[kuei12]

Let the bush administration send in the cia to waterboard this kid and then lock him up in Cuba for a while. They''ll get the truth out of him.

[sjresident]

For the record, his step mother was at work when this shooting took place and then went straight to the grocery store on her way home otherwise she would be in the same place as her husband! The kid also admitted to that.
Unfortunately who knows if and when all the evidence will come out on this one because of the gag order but there is NOT only the confession! Come on people think! The police didn''t want to believe that this kid did it but all the evidence points straight to him. They have fingerprints on the bullets and gun. Even the first night this pyscho kid showed no emotion. Don''t you think that a "normal" kid would shed some tears if he had just found his father and another man dead? His story changed every time he told it even that first night. The police should not have interviewed this kid alone but remember they still thought he was a witness when they brought him in. Also, the County Attorney is an idiot who just lost the election and released the tape just to give this town and the new CA a black eye.

[tnz650-2009]

Hey, anyone who believes sjresident. . . I''ve got some swamp land in Florida for sale. Ya, Ya, Ya, Ya!!!

[myeyedea]

A lot of people are ready to convict this child, and I''m not sure why such a quick judgement. Maybe he did do it, maybe he didn''t - frankly, it''s my opinion that if you teach a child how to use a gun and then keep the weapon and ammunition accessible in your home you''re saying you accept whatever results come of that mixture. Could be your child kills you, could be your child takes that weapon to school, could be your child shoots your family pet or the neighbor''s, could be your child shoots him/herself, and could be nothing happens at all... The parent has trained the skill in the child and given the child the access to use the skill in whatever way comes to the child''s mind when guns and ammunition are made available like this - so the parent should subsume the consequences. It''s unfortunate the dad and the friend are dead, but even if the child did it I don''t think it''s his fault per se - he may have pulled the trigger, but the dad gave him the trigger to pull.

[heero78-2009]

Is this kid named Dexter?

[sjresident]

I live in SJ and for the record this kid is a cold blooded killer. He was not abused he was a spoiled little brat with obvious mental problems. He waited at the top of the stairs and ambushed his father. Then after his father fell he walked up to him and shot him in the back of the head. Tim was outside talking to his wife on his cell phone and hung up when the kid called him into the house. He ambushed him in the same manner. Shot him and then put a bullet in the back of his head. The media is making this kid out as a victim and it makes me sick! It was cold calculated premeditated murder! But he gets to spend a touching 48 hours with his biological mother (who was found to be unfit to begin with) eating Thanksgiving dinner. Unbelieveable! The "why" was because he had been in trouble and spanked NOT BEATEN the night before. He was in trouble again at school and didn''t want to be grounded. Ya, the kid is sick!

[capricornduh]

EXCUSE ME...***PURSUE!*** PROSECUTION. JUSTICE NEEDS TO BE SERVED, AND THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME NOT YEARS LATER WHEN "NEW EVIDENCE" SURFACES MYSTERIOUSLY. PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHILD, PROPER INVESTIGATION IS NEEDED. AS WELL AS MAJOR COUNSELING FOR THE 8 YEAR OLD CHILD.

[capricornduh]

STAYiNG TRUE TO THE GUIDELINES HERE iS MY POINT OF VIEW. SOMETHING ISNT RIGHT ABOUT THIS ENTIRE SITUATION. THE POLICE IN THIS TOWN NEED TO "FINISH" WITH THE INVESTIGATION; RELEASE THINGS THAT THE PUBLIC NEED TO SEE AND READ. AS WELL AS UNDERSTAND MOST 8 YEAR OLDS WHEN MAD DO NOT KILL PEOPLE, NO MATTER HOW "BRIGHT" THEY ARE CONSIDERED. THEY JUST GET MAD AND COOL OFF, AFTER HOURS OF VIDEO GAMING OR JUST ABOUT ANY TYPE OF RECREATION. FIRST, WITHOUT A PARENT AND/OR LAWYER PRESENT DURING THE TAPED "CONFESSION" THE TAPE BASICALLY MEANS NOTHING. USING THE EXACT SAME TACTICS ON A CHILD AS ONE WOULD USE ON ADULTS WHILE IN QUESTIONING I WOULD ASSUME THAT I TO COULD GET A CHILD TO CONFESS, TO A CRIME OR TO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING.(WHICH ISNT RIGHT) WHAT THEY NEED TO BE BRINGING TO THE SURFACE IS......1. HOW WAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MOTHER-AND-FATHER? 2. (NOT SLANDERING ANYONES CHARACTER) BUT WHAT WAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ROOMMATES/CO-WORKERS? 3. HOW TRUE WAS THE ABUSE REPORTS? WE SEE ALL THE TIME ON LIFETIME HOW PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD CAN REALLY OPERATE AFTER ALL THE MOVIES ARE BASED ON TRUE INCIDENTS/ REAL LIFE. 4. WHY WAS HE ALLOWED TO BE QUESTIONED WITHOUT THE PARENTS/LAWYERS PRESENT? (CREDIBILITY?!) THE MAJOR QUESTION IS....WHO? THEN FOLLOWED BY WHAT? WHICH LEADS TO WHEN? INTO WHERE? TO CONCLUDE WITH WHY?! WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE BOY (AN 8 YEAR OLD CHILD AS OF NOV.8,2008) CAN BE TRIED AS AN ADULT TO REALLY PURSURE PROSECUTION.

[alabamajohn1]

Question is, who victimized who first? Corrupt society, or the boy? Alabama.John

[caco58]

Alls he has to do is blame it on his abusive daddy,and he''s off free. When is his lawyer gonna tell him that. Oh wai,t he didn''t have one present. I thought the Nazi''s were gone along time ago

[twistedsister1959]

Most 8 yr olds have a hard time telling the difference between reality and fantasy. What a crock to have this child''s words used against him after being coached by detectives into saying what they wanted him to say. Is there other evidence that conclusively points to this child as the gunman? This will be thrown out of court in a New York minute. Everyone is entitled to a fair trial and fair interrogations. You can bet if he had been an adult that an attorney would have been present in that room.

[susanhelit]

I don''t buy at all that he killed anyone. When he ''confesses'' - it''s all "I guess" and uncertainty - he''s asking the interviewer with the tone of his voice if his story is good enough or not. He''s making it all up, to make the cops happy, to tell the adults what they want to hear. He changes his story, gets the details wrong - this is no confession. It''s a story made up because 8 year old kids try to tell adults what they want to hear to get out of uncomfortable situations.

[slim1h2o]

I''m not sure either as to what happened. But one thing for sure is, 3 lives are ruined, 3 young lives at that.

After listening to that interview, I still can''t believe that kid killed his daddy and another man.