ST JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Lawyers for Aiden Fucci, a St. Johns County teenager suspected of killing 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey, have filed a motion for him to be removed from solitary confinement in the Duval County Detention Center.
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Our law and safety expert Dale Carson says that typically, people accused of committing a crime are put in the general population, but with such a high-profile case, it sometimes requires defendants to be put in solitary confinement.
“This is not an ordinary child juvenile defendant,” says Carson.
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According to a pre-trial motion filed last Friday, Fucci was first held in the Volusia Juvenile Detention Center from May 9 through May 28, 2021.
Since then, he’s been transferred to the Duval County Pre-Trial Detention Center.
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The motion says Fucci has been held in solitary confinement for over 400 days with only three exemptions where he was in the general population.
Carson says with this being such a high-profile case, he believes this is the only way Fucci can remain safe in jail.
“It’s important that we all understand that the sheriff’s office has a duty to protect someone who is in their care and control. That’s all defendants, no matter their age,” says Carson.
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We asked Carson if he believes the motion to transfer Fucci to another facility will be granted.
“If he moves to another adult facility, the same circumstances are going to present themselves. So the correction facility is going to have difficulty managing him,” says Carson.
Carson says it is the current conditions the defendant is alleging right now.
Some would consider it as his problem, but Carson reminds people that you are innocent until proven guilty.
“There may even be some significant evidence to support a position that he actually committed a crime. Until he is actually convicted, he shouldn’t be subject to cruel and unusual punishment,” says Carson.
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Carson says after a motion like this is filed, a hearing will be scheduled, but a judge will ultimately decide if that motion is granted.
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