Page 3 - First Morris News Today

No? >> he was released off of house arrest in april of this year. and then he failed to come to his court date in july. so he didnt appear in court. his mother did, his counselors did, his probation officer did, but morris was on run away status. >> why didnt you go to court on the 24th? everybody else did. >> i was scared. >> you were scared. did you get a chance to talk to your probation officer prior to going to court? >> my probation officer, he was talking about sending me a place where i d...

>> i think i understand your testimony to be because morris is not as available or participating with these services to the extent that you think appropriate, that he should just remain locked up? >> well, im basing that upon him running away from home. his mother not knowing where he is. and she was having a hard time controlling him and reasoning with him he has failed a couple of drug tests. morris has told me on several occasions that whatever i do its not going to work. >> so had you previo...

Every case, every child wants to get out of here but theres no question that as morriss advocate that i want him to go home and my preference is that the children should be home with their parents supposed to detained in a detention center. >> you know you had a court hearing, didnt even come? i was scared. they said i was going two years in placement. >> so you run away. im not going to recommend tau go home. im try to keep you staying here so we can work something out here. >> its not going to...

>> its okay. ill see you at 1:30, all right? youre going to be all right. ill be here all day every day. i love. >> i love you too. >> hang in there. >> i certainly understand why the court did what it did. theres not a solid support structure in place where this mother says im going to take care of this problem. while i certainly was advocating for him to go home and would have liked to have seen that, i understand the courts decision. >> with so much testimony pushing against morriss release, ...

Nurse look at him real quick to determine that hes not under the influence. they found him today because he was smoking marijuana with his friends and they ran all their names at first morris was lying about his identity because he knew he had a warrant. >> you didnt take any drugs? >> you why are your eyes like that? >> liking what? >> all slanty and red. >> theyre red? >> theyre red. >> were going to need medical clearance. we cant accept him like this. >> she believed that he was under the in...

>> all right. the courts going to ask you why you were using marijuana. do you know how youd answer that? >> yeah, i would tell them i was in a gang. they were smoking marijuana. >> one of the things i know is the probation department is recommending that you stay locked up. we have our work cut out for us. the difficult challenge as a public defender for a child is distinguishing between whats in the childs best interests and what the child wants because in every case, every child wants to get ...

He shouldnt be doing all because he was afraid to come to court. for those reasons, the court is going to order he remain detained pending his next hearing because theres an unlikelihood he will appear for a subsequent hearing. are there any questions? all right, then this hearings adjourned. thank you. >> want to say anything to your mother? >> i see you at 1:30. >> i. >> its okay. ill see you at 1:30, all right? youre going to be all right. ill be here all day every day. i love. >> i love you ...

>> have there been other times when you leave the home without your moms permission? >> yes. >> when you go to school, do you go to school every day? >> yes. >> your an endence is perfect. >> yes. >> could i have a brief minute with my client. >> be honest. im telling. shes going to have all the records from your school. listen to the question and answer it honestly. dont make it worse. >> anything else? >> no, judge. >> all right. mr. republic? >> judge, i would call morriss mother angel to the...

Records from your school. listen to the question and answer it honestly. dont make it worse. >> anything else? >> no, judge. >> judge, i would call morriss mother angel to the stand, please foo if the court were to decide that morris need not be locked up any longer, would you be willing to have him released to your custody? >> im always willing. but i just wonder if thats whats best for him. >> well, do you think its best to keep him locked up? >> here, no, i dont. but as far as what helps, i k...

So positive for marijuana? >> yeah. but we knew that was going to happen. >> uh-huh. >> do you feel any of the effects of marijuana still? no? >> he was released off of house arrest in april of this year. and then he failed to come to his court date in july. so he didnt appear in court. his mother did, his counselors did, his probation officer did, but morris was on run away status. >> why didnt you go to court on the 24th? everybody else did. >> i was scared. >> you were scared. did you get a c...