Missing Baby Lisa Irwin: Clashes Between Cops, Attorneys a Preview of Heated Legal Battle?
As the police becomes more eager to gain access and to further interrogate the parents of 11-month-old Lisa Irwin, the defense team representing the missing girl's parents has begun to be more critical of investigators.
On Tuesday, Kansas City police Capt. Steve Young said that he is not in disagreement with the family's attorney, Joe Tacopina, who stated that the family had cooperated and answered questions asked by investigators. Young felt, however, that the answers Lisa's parents have provide so far have not been sufficient.
The police captain announced that investigators needed to interview Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, the parents of the little girl separately.
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"We need them to sit down apart from each other, with detectives, and answer the tough questions detectives have for them concerning what they may or may not know about anything, who came and went [the night Lisa disappeared]," Young said, as reported by ABC News.
On Tuesday, the parents' attorney, Joe Tacopena, also had this to say to the network:
"It really is maddening to me to listen to this police spokesperson come out there, and instead of informing the public, and more importantly the family, about leads and the status of the investigation and the manhunt, he comes out and makes these statements. And, quite frankly, they've [parents] done everything they've been asked to do...They have nothing to hide. They want answers."
On Oct. 24, Kansas City attorney Cynthia Short, who also represents the Bradley and Irwin, criticized the police for focusing their attention on the couple's home.
"It was interesting to watch the activity outside of this house when they were conducting the search," Short said. "There were so many crime scene people that were seen outside, and seen coming in and out of this house…carrying a rolled up rug. It really gave the impression that there was a lot going to be removed from this house."
In his interview on Tuesday, Tacopena also stunned followers of the case when he claimed police had accused Bradley of murdering her daughter.
"The mother who is missing her 10-month-old baby, within an hour, sitting on the floor trembling, as her husband called 9-1-1," said Tacopena. "Within an hour of that the police are interviewing her, accusing her of murder. That's just not good investigatory tactics and it doesn't build good faith in them."
Young declined to comment on Tacopina's remarks except to say, "I stand by all my previous statements."
The contentious discourse between both law enforcement officials and the legal defense team has become so fierce that one can only wonder if this is a preview of a fierce legal battle, with the culmination of the investigation to eventually play out in court.
