| Platapus |
10-24-09 04:06 PM |
In a desperate attempt to get this thread back on track...
It appears that our initial understandings of this issue were correct
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/23/col...ion/index.html
Documents: 'Balloon boy' dad had hoax in mind, wife says
Quote:
- Mayumi Heene says she and husband knew 6-year-old was safe during scare
- They told authorities child might have blown away inside giant balloon
- Couple told children to lie to authorities and media, document says
(CNN) -- The wife of a Colorado father at the center of the "balloon boy" saga told authorities that the giant helium balloon was specifically created for a hoax to draw media attention, according to court documents released Friday.
Mayumi Heene told Larimer County investigators that she and her husband, Richard Heene, knew that their 6-year-old son Falcon was hiding at their Fort Collins home the entire time, even as police and military scrambled to search for the boy, according to the documents.
The admission by Mayumi Heene was made October 17, just two days after the balloon was released, according to the documents.
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Strange that we are only hearing about this now :06:
Quote:
The Heenes initially told authorities that they believed their child had flown away on the balloon, and when the balloon landed without him, they expressed concern that he may have fallen out of the device.
The couple hatched the plan about two weeks before the incident and "instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax," according to the documents.
Their motive? To "make the Heene family more marketable for future media interests."
Calls to David Lane, Richard Heene's attorney, and Lee Christian, Mayumi Heene's attorney, were not immediately returned Friday.
Richard and Mayumi Heene are each facing a number of local charges, including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and attempting to influence a public servant, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Sunday.
...
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident.
....
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I guess we called this right from the get-go. :yeah:
"Attempting to influence a public servant?
That's a weird one. Evidently in Colorado, there have been cases where the state has claimed that lying to a police officer is a violation of State Law
Quote:
Section 18-8-306 provides:
Any person who attempts to influence any public servant by means of deceit or by threat of violence or economic reprisal against any person or property, with the intent thereby to alter or affect the public servant’s decision, vote, opinion, or action concerning any matter which is to be considered or performed by him or the agency or body of which he is a member, commits a class 4 felony.
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This, however, has been challenged in appeal courts. The latest being The People of the State of Colorado vs. Derek Dee Beck 15 May 2008 where this interpretation was supported.
In Colorado, a Class 4 felony is punishable by 2-6 years $2,000-$500,000 fine.
Not such a funny harmless hoax now is it Heenes? :nope: |
