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Tirado takes the stand
October 10, 2007
By Britt Godshalk
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Tirado takes
the stand
Tuesday was a key day in the Edwin Tirado
manslaughter trial. The man accused of killing
Jonathan Carey, 13, by using an improper
restraint took the stand and defended the
actions he took that led to the death of the
autistic teen.
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ALBANY, N.Y. – “God have mercy on
them both for what they've done to us.”
Michael Carey reacts to the
testimony and the lawyer of a man accused in the death of his
14-year-old autistic son Jonathan.
 Edwin
Tirado maintained his innocence on the stand changing his answers to
several questions initially asked by officers after the incident.
Tirado said stress and exhaustion
led him to answer the questions inaccurately.
“He was tricked into saying certain
things, he was tricked into signing certain things,” said attorney
Brian Donohue.
Tirado's signed statement says he
altered his restraint on Jonathan because the boy appeared to calm
down.
But by using a bench to simulate
the bench seating in the van, Tirado testified that he actually
changed positions because the boy's arms were slipping to where they
were around his own neck.
Tirado also testified that he never
once sat directly on Jonathan, but instead just in front of him,
after which Jonathan appeared to be sleeping as Tirado and another
aide ran errands for over an hour.
But the boy's father said Tirado's
video statement to police played in court Friday proves he's lying.
Tirado did admit in court that he's
made false statements to authorities in the past to protect a fellow
co-worker after a child went missing a few years ago.
“Obviously he's got a problem lying
to protect, in this case he's lying to protect himself,” said Carey.
On the video he specifically knew
that Jonathan had stopped breathing before the Hess station which
was early on in the night.
Tirado's lawyer said things would
have been different had it not been for a number of factors.
“Jonathan Carey would still be here
if someone hadn't decided to stop using the harness in the car. He'd
still be here if maybe somebody had said that maybe it's not a good
idea to have Jonathan go on these outings. You got a collection of
12 intelligent people and they consider everything,” said Donohue.
Closing statements are set for
Wednesday morning then the case will be in the hands of the jury.
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