Madison Brooks family hits out at ‘smear campaign’ by alleged attackers as they say ‘this should never happen again’

Family attorney Madison Brooks criticized the “smear campaign” of lawyers representing her alleged attackers.

On January 15, Ms. Brooks, a Louisiana State University student, was hit by a car and died in Baton Rouge. Before that, she was allegedly raped and thrown on the road, where she was hit by a car.

CCTV footage shows Brooks, 19, following four young men accused of sexual assault from Reggie’s Bar, where she reportedly worked previously, and getting into a car with the suspects.

Brooks family attorney Kerry Miller told WVUE that Madi’s “mom’s goal is to make sure this never happens again, so that no family ever feels the pain she’s in right now.”

Kavion Washington, 18, has been charged with third-degree rape, Everett Lee, 20, and Kaysen Carver, 18, have been charged with principle third-degree rape, and the 17-year-old, who has not been named because of his age, faces charges of rape.

Defense attorney Ron Haley told a local television station that “it certainly got the attention of our city, our state and nation.”

“We are not going to consider this case in the media. However, we intend to present the relevant facts of this case while maintaining the utmost confidentiality with all parties involved,” he added.

Lawyers representing the suspects – Mr. Haley, Joe Long, Ryan Beaulieu and Dale Glover – organized a press briefing Friday, saying they have videotape proving Mr. Washington and the 17-year-old are innocent.

“The two defendants, who had consensual sexual relations with Ms. Brooks, did so after receiving verbal consent,” Haley told the press. “The way this is reported and taken out of context from the police report is not actually true. Miss Brooks asked to be dropped off at a sorority sister’s house in Pelican Lakes. The driver complied. Miss Brooks got out of the car [of] of his own free will, saying that he would call an uber. The video shows her getting out of the car, unharmed and in good health. This will be confirmed by video later.”

Mr Haley said the defense had footage of Ms Brooks talking to the suspects in the car. Lawyers did not say when they intended to release the footage, but said there was no sexual intercourse on it. They noted that this showed that Ms. Brooks was not as drunk as previously thought.

Authorities said Ms Brooks had a blood alcohol level of 0.319, nearly four times the legal limit.

Defense attorneys also said security footage from Reggie’s Bar showed that Ms. Brooks was not as drunk as investigators claimed.

This was announced by family medicine doctor Dr. Ronald Andrews. BRPROUD that “every time the alcohol level exceeds 0.25%, you start having problems with your balance, it becomes difficult for you to walk straight without help.”

“Someone in this condition probably needed medical attention, and not how, unfortunately, this story turned out,” he added.

Mr. Long, one of the defense attorneys, said during a press conference: “Read the symptoms of .319 BAC. The evidence we’ve seen so far in the video of Ms. Brooks running through the streets from Reggie undermines the police version of events. Until our experts review what happened, we believe the BAC they are talking about is inaccurate.”

Mr. Miller, an attorney for the Brooks family, criticized the defense in an interview with WVUE.

“Coming out to mention the evidence they have and not showing it, to disprove the gold standard of the blood alcohol test and not say on what basis they are doing it is a fabricated smear campaign, absolutely shameful,” he said. . said. “The next week and several days are dedicated to letting the Madi family grieve.”

The district attorney’s office said the charges could be upgraded to first-degree rape if supported by evidence, and that a grand jury could be called. The question of whether a 17-year-old will be tried as an adult remains unresolved.

“If Miss Brooks were alive, this would not be a crime. She wouldn’t complain about it at all. The only reason this exists is because understandable anger in society wants someone to pay for her death. And we understand this, but our clients did not do this, ”said Mr. Long, a spokesman for the defense.

Mr. Miller, representing the Brooks family, said: “People around her should not have taken advantage of her. They were supposed to protect her. Got home safely. Which is the opposite of what these people did.”