Accused of slaying 10-year-old Jade Morris, Brenda Stokes (Wilson) apparently can't afford her defense fees. At least that's what can be taken from the website set up by her lawyer Tony Liker. The attorney representing the accused child murderer is soliciting donations from the public to put toward her defense, and Action News 13 shared the story, along with the below image.
It's pretty unsettling, and it's reminiscent of the Trayvon Martin slaying when George Zimmerman solicited as much as $200,000.00 from the public with his own website. The woman's attorney charges on the website that police "rushed to judgment" and that there were other suspects in this case—but who are these supposed suspects?
The attorney relies heavily on the fact that Stokes doesn't have a criminal history, and the slain child's father even expressed shock at the idea that she could have stabbed the girl over 40 times like she is accused. However, officials in Las Vegas appear to have all of their ducks in a row as far as this case is concerned. There are also reports of blood evidence tying the woman directly to the child's death. And don't forget earlier reports of Stokes (Wilson) allegedly telling police that she would have killed the woman at the Bellagio had she not been arrested. That's some scary stuff.
So would you donate to the lawyer's defense fund request?
Photo: Facebook
Chelsea Hoffman is a candidly opinionated crime analyst with a lifelong interest in criminology and activism. She also owns 'Girl Nerdology' and is the author of several fiction stories. Follow her on Twitter @TheRealChelseaH or email her privately throughChelsea Hoffman: Case to Case.
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Comments: 2
Jade Morris Shocker: Would You Donate to Suspect?
Well, as a law abiding senior citizen living on a fixed income, I already pay my {more} than fair share in taxes. A percentage of which is allocated to the Legal Defense Fund, (LDF) a nationwide government program which pays defense attorney fees for indigent defendants such as the defendant in this case. In such instances, the bond hearing judge will assign a specific attorney or a lawfirm to represent the defendant in all trial preparations and court proceedings and the LDF will pay a specific amount for the legal services rendered by the assigned defense attorney.
Since this attorney has established a defense fund foundation on the internet, he was either, (1) hired outright by the defendant who he knew beforehand could not afford his services or (2) the attorney volunteered his services and now has decided that he needs compensation for those services or (3) he volunteered his services with the idea that he could get both his name in the headlines as well as a big paycheck in donations from bleeding heart do gooders or (4) he was assigned the case by a judge, but feels he deserves more than the standard fee which he will receive from the LDF program.
As to the question posed by the article's headline, No, I would not donate to any defendant's legal defense cost for any reason whatsoever. Inasmuch, as I have been paying for such defenses (mostly for guilty defendants) all my life through our country's taxation system. Further, this attorney is, in my opinion, attempting to scam the system by putting both himself in the limelight for name recognition and second, by fleecing gullible people who do not stop to think that he is already getting paid through the LDF. If, as I suspect, he volunteered his legal services for those two reasons, any financial problems arising from the legal services he renders, are his problems alone and not those of the general public.
If, the attorney who was actually assigned the case by a judge, he has no recourse and must work for the fees paid by the LDF as is apart of our legal system. Should, for any reason, he does not provide the defendant with an adequate defense or fails to defend his client to the best of his ability, the defendant will have legal grounds for appealing her case for a new trial. (more cost to the taxpayer)