Perez & Cedeño, P.C. Defense Attorney Represents Client Accused of Triple Homicide

Oct. 18, 2012 - PRLog -- Criminal defense attorney H. Benjamin Perez is handling a trial case in which he is defending a 21-year-old man who has confessed to murdering three people. The attorney, of Perez & Cedeño, P.C., is stating that the confession was coerced following two days of interrogation.

An Oct. 17 New York Post article, titled “‘Killer’ rats self out: DA,” gives an overview of the allegations related to the case. Perez’s client and another individual were accused of shooting and stabbing a 19-year-old man—allegedly a rival gang member—in Midwood in 2010. The client initially told investigators he shot the man in self-defense. His cellmate, however, reported to law enforcement officers that Perez’s client indicated that the story was untrue and said that he also shot and killed two other men in Sunset Park, according to the article. The news story referenced the assistant district attorney’s statements made during the trial, which is being held in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

The prosecuting attorney also stated that, after being told the cell was bugged, Perez’s client confessed to the murder of the 19-year-old man and to the murder of the other two men in 2009, according to the article. Perez has stated that law enforcement coerced the statement from his client.

A coerced confession occurs when law enforcement acts in a way that leads a suspect to confess to a crime against his or her free will—whether or not that person actually committed the crime. This could be done through many different tactics, including unreasonably long interrogations that could lead the accused individual to say anything in order to receive rest from exhausting and mentally-draining questioning. The suspect in this type of interrogation might also undergo ongoing threats and intimidation that lead him or her to make a false statement.

If it is determined that a confession was coerced, the evidence could be deemed inadmissible in a court proceeding. That is because coerced confessions violate an individual’s constitutional rights against self-incrimination. The Fifth Amendment states that no person can be “compelled” to be a witness against himself or herself, and that includes instances in which a person is compelled by force or coercion.

Perez and his firm are committed to standing up for clients who have been accused of crimes and who need their rights protected. He has defended hundreds of criminal cases, which have occurred at both the state and federal levels. He has also handled many complicated cases. For more information about the services Perez & Cedeño can provide, visit www.perezandcedeno.com.