All About - Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Extended)
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Jurors are not likely to see longtime Etan Patz murder suspect Jose Ramos at the upcoming trial of Pedro Hernandez the person charged with the notorious crime.
A Manhattan judge indicated he wont let Ramos, a convicted pedophile who was dating Patz's babysitter in 1979 when the 6-year-old went missing, take the stand at Hernandezs murder trial if he plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
Ramos lawyer said he would.
It seems to be if the witness chooses to take the Fifth, that's it I just don't see that happening, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley said.
Hernandez's attorneys Harvey Fishbein and Alice Fontier can still present evidence relating to Ramos's history as a suspect in Patz's disappearance, including a 1988 statement in which he discusses his relationship to the sitter, the judge has said.
Ramos who was transferred last week from a Pennsylvania prison to New York City as a material witness for the impending trial is expected to be brought to court on Tuesday to formally be asked about his willingness to testify.
Hernandez gave police and prosecutors a full confession to the crime in 2012, which prosecutors argue is a reliable and key piece of evidence.
Hernandez's lawyers contend hes mentally ill and was coached into confessing.
Jury selection is slated to begin Jan. 5.
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Longtime Etan Patz murder suspect might not testify
The Constitution did not provide for Vice Presidential vacancies until the Twenty-fifth Amendment was adopted. The Vice Presidency has been vacant several times due to death, resignation, or succession to the Presidency. Often these vacancies lasted for several years.
Under Section 2, whenever there is a vacancy in the office of Vice President, the President nominates a successor who becomes Vice President if confirmed by a majority vote of both Houses of the Congress.
Section 3 provides that when the President transmits a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, stating that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency, and until the President sends another written declaration to the aforementioned officers declaring himself able to resume discharging those powers and duties, the Vice President serves as Acting President.
Section 4 is the only part of the amendment that has never been invoked.[19] It allows the Vice President, together with a majority of either "the principal officers of the executive departments" (i.e., the Cabinet) or of "such other body as Congress may by law provide", to declare the President disabled by submitting a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. As with Section 3, the Vice President would become Acting President.
Section 4 is meant to be invoked if the President's incapacitation prevents him from discharging the duties of his office and he does not provide a written declaration to that effect. The President may resume exercising the Presidential duties by sending a written declaration to the President pro tempore and the Speaker of the House.
Should the Vice President and Cabinet remain unsatisfied with the President's condition, they may within four days of the President's declaration submit another declaration that the President is incapacitated. The Congress must then assemble within 48 hours if not in session. The Congress then has 21 days to decide the issue. If within the 21 days allotted two-thirds of each House of Congress vote that the President is incapacitated, Section 4 states that the Vice President would "continue" to be Acting President. Should the Congress resolve the issue in favor of the President, or if the Congress makes no decision within the 21 days allotted, then the President would "resume" discharging all of the powers and duties of his office. The use of the words "continue" and "resume" imply that the Vice President remains Acting President while Congress deliberates.
However, the President may again submit a written declaration of recovery to the President pro tempore and the Speaker of the House. That declaration could be responded to by the Acting President and the Cabinet in the same way as stated earlier. The allotted 21-day Congressional procedure would start again.
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Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution ...
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) A convicted child molester who was long suspected in the 1979 missing child case of Etan Patz plans to invoke his right against self-incrimination if called to testify in the murder trial of a man now charged with the crime, his lawyer said Friday.
It was not yet clear Friday what questions Jose Ramos might ultimately be asked or have to answer in the trial stemming from Etan Patzs disappearance, or whether theres specific information he doesnt want to divulge. His lawyer, Frank Rothman, would only say that Ramos has no desire to speak to anybody about this.
He plans on invoking whatever Fifth Amendment rights he has, Rothman said, referring to the constitutional provision against self-incrimination.
Former convenience store stock clerk Pedro Hernandez is set to go on trial next month in a case that helped propel the cause of missing children to the fore. Six-year-old Etan disappeared while walking to his Manhattan school bus stop. His body was never found.
Hernandez, 53, has pleaded not guilty to Etan, who vanished while walking to his school bus stop. Patz was one of the first missing children ever pictured on a milk carton. The anniversary of his disappearance became National Missing Childrens Day.
Hernandez became a suspect in 2012 after police got a tip that hed made statements to relatives and acquaintances about having harmed a child in New York years ago. He then gave police a videotaped confession saying he lured the boy into the convenience store basement and choked him.
The Maple Shade, New Jersey, man confessed on video after more than six hours of questioning, telling police he lured Etan to the store basement with the promise of a soda, choked the boy, put the body in a bag and a box and left it on the street several blocks away.
Police and prosecutors found his confession credible. Hernandezs lawyers say he falsely confessed because of mental problems.
No one else has ever been charged, but over the years, other suspects had come under scrutiny especially Ramos, who had been dating Etans baby sitter and who later was convicted of abusing two boys in Pennsylvania.
A former federal prosecutor said Ramos had given him a 90 percent confession in Etans case but stopped short of saying he had killed the boy or that it was definitely Etan _ and two jailhouse snitches said Ramos made admissions to them, though he has since denied involvement. Etans parents pursued a wrongful-death lawsuit against Ramos, and after he stopped cooperating with questioning, a court ruled him responsible.
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Attorney: Convicted Child Abuser To Invoke 5th Amendment If Asked To Testify In Etan Patz Trial