New information on Norfolk sailor's death, name of suspect revealed
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — The sailor in pre-trial confinement in connection to the death of Seaman Angelina Resendiz's death has been identified by the attorney for Resendiz's mother.
There was an initial review officer's hearing at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, where Resendiz's mother, Esmeralda Castle, spoke. Attorney Marshall Griffin, representing Castle, was not at the hearing, but 10 On Your Side spoke to him exclusively, and he confirmed the name of the accused sailor as Jermiah Copeland, who he said will stay in pre-trial confinement due to the seriousness of the charges.
NCIS: Body confirmed as missing Norfolk Naval Station sailor; Navy sailor in confinement
'The Navy confirmed that Jeremiah Copeland is the person being detained or confined, on suspicion in this case,' Griffin told 10 On Your Side.
Griffin pointed out what needs to happen as the case moves forward.
'The government just has to show that a crime occurred and that there's some evidence that the accused committed the offense,' Griffin said. 'So the process at this stage is kind of built with the understanding that the government is not going to have what I would call a final charge sheet yet.'
The initial review officer's hearing determines whether there is continued pre-trial confinement in the case.
'It is distinguishable from, like, bond hearing, because there's no amount of money,' Griffin said. 'It's not about money. The independent reviewing officer is considering criteria to determine whether the individual is a flight risk, or they're likely to engage in other misconduct, and consider the government's evidence whether a crime actually occurred.'
Griffin said the specific charges against the sailor are not yet known, and that is still to be determined from the on-going investigation, and the evidence.
'They're probably going to look at cell phone records,' Griffin said. 'They're going to look at anything they have to try to learn more about the relationship, the involvement of other people, to the extent they have any evidence of that.'
Castle read a statement by telephone during Monday's hearing, saying 'the person responsible for this horrific loss made deliberate choices that ended Angie's life. Their actions were not a mistake. They were a betrayal of trust, of duty, and of basic human decency.'
Said Griffin: 'Obviously, the family is very concerned about the way it was handled, the circumstances that this person, may have been brought into proximity to the victim.'
What happens next?
'So, once someone goes into pretrial confinement, the government has 120 days to arraign them,' Griffin said. 'Within those 120 days, they need to hold an Article 32 hearing if they're going to take him to a general court martial, which is the most serious.'
Griffin said explanations for any slow response by the Navy to the missing sailor were because it thought it was case of Resendiz leaving voluntarily.
'From what I understand, the Navy's initial reaction was that it was an AWOL case that she had left voluntarily,' Griffin said, 'and that reaction appears to have maybe slowed things somewhat.'
Griffin says the family is focused on justice and accountability for anybody involved,
'How did this happen? Were the notification procedures that were in place, were they followed? Did the people who were in place report this, detectives, did they do their jobs? We want to know the person who's responsible for actually hurting her,' Griffin said, '… and any people who were assisting.'
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