CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Attorney Christopher Gale does not represent either of the two teenagers Corpus Christi Police arrested last week over a 17-year-old man's murder on Bolivar Street on February 19.
But he does handle civil rights cases, and he has some concerns about how officers handled the situation.
"They were arrested for the murder based on someone saying they were involved in it," Gale said. "I’m also aware that the person that told them that they were involved had a reason to fabricate this."
Senior CCPD Officer Gena Pena put a post on the department's online blotter Monday.
"Initial information led investigators to believe that two juvenile suspects were involved in the death of a 17-year-old male," the post read. "Two juveniles who were initially identified as suspects have been released from custody, pending further investigation."
No new arrests have been made, and Gale wonders whether the teens' names have been fully cleared in the court of public opinion.
Police arrested one of them while he was at school.
“I can promise you that there are people that have seen their arrest that still think that they’re probably guilty of something," Gale said.
He says he's not aware of any particular civil rights that juveniles have in these matters that adults don't have, and he says police go about arresting both age groups in basically the same manner.
They first obtain arrest warrants after presenting evidence — which he thinks happened in this case.
“I think that they probably followed proper procedure, but I don’t really know for certain,” Gale said.
But given what he described as "questionable" initial information, he believes investigators should have taken more time before making their arrests.
"Let’s corroborate this a little before we sort of — not ruin the lives of some young men — but certainly hamper their development that’s for sure,” Gale said.
