No one wants to see a child get hurt, so it’s easy to understand why the community almost always casts a negative light on child injury defendants. Yet false allegations of inflicting a child injury are not at all uncommon. It’s hard to win the public relations battle, but you possess the legal right to insist on your innocence by vigorously challenging the witnesses and evidence in a child injury case.
When someone is charged with emotional or physical child abuse, the stakes are high to say the least. A criminal record of any kind can make life difficult, but a child injury conviction is loaded with overwhelming implications for the future. Things may look especially grim if the prosecution’s case includes the testimony of a child.
Selecting just the right defense strategy could mean the difference between clearing your name and going through life with the inability to pass a criminal background check. Simply put, your legal team has the responsibility of protecting your legal rights and undermining the weakest elements of the prosecution’s case against you. Among the strategies that can be employed to defend a child injury defendant are the following:
1) False Child Injury Allegations – A criminal defendant can help vindicate their name and reputation by declaring that they didn’t commit the crime as charged. False accusations of child abuse are quite common, especially in divorce cases, child custody disputes and dysfunctional families.
2) Accidental Child Injury – It may be possible to prove that the child injury was actually the result of an accident. Unfortunately, accidents sometimes occur in the course of everyday activities, such as teaching a child to ride a skateboard or bicycle. This defense strategy may prove ineffective if the injuries suffered by the child were particularly serious or the accident was caused by negligence.
3) Non-Accidental Injury – Many injuries are caused by circumstances or events that could not have been prevented by the defendant. Perhaps the child slipped while climbing a tree or was the victim of a neighborhood bully. The child may even have a preexisting medical condition that contributed to the incident and injury.
4) Legal Parental Discipline – Parents generally have the right to impose parental discipline within reason. If the child injuries are more serious than minor bruising, claiming parental privilege may not be appropriate.
5) Religious Belief – Although controversial, the law may recognize a parent’s right to forego medical treatment in favor of prayer or some other religious practice.
6) Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy – This rare defense strategy allows a defendant to claim that the child’s caregiver, the mother for instance, has a tendency to promote and accentuate childhood illnesses and injuries.
All of these defense strategies will work on some cases and not work in other circumstances. The key is being able to determine which one is right for your particular case. The only way to do this is to have experience working with child injury cases. You should hire a criminal defense attorney today.
