SAN ANTONIO – Former Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, who now has his own criminal defense practice, and criminal defense attorney Joseph Hoelscher, both said the case against Brad Simpson is far from a slam dunk.
With the release of the murder affidavit on Tuesday afternoon, what can we expect as the criminal cases against Simpson moves forward?
“This is a long affidavit, even for a murder, and I think it, it speaks to the fact that there’s not a body,” said LaHood.
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The arrest affidavit lays out what evidence law enforcement has to support charging Brad Simpson with the murder of his missing wife Suzanne. The document establishes a detailed timeline of Simpson’s actions after his wife’s disappearance, inconsistent with stories he gave police and allegations of marital violence.
But despite what authorities have, it hasn’t been enough to lead them to her body and conclusively establish her death.
There’s a lot of reasons. People might feel guilty other than a specific criminal charge, and it appears that these guys did have a tough marriage,” explained criminal defense attorney Joseph Hoelscher. “Anybody knows when they’re going through a hard spot in their marriage, there’s a lot of things to feel guilty about.
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This casts doubt on whether it will be enough to ultimately lead to a conviction for murder.
This is a long affidavit, even for a murder, and I think it speaks to the fact that there’s not a body,” said LaHood. “Remember law enforcement and the prosecutorial branch of our justice system doesn’t have to put everything in an affidavit. It’s just enough to reach probable cause.
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That probable cause standard is a lot lower than what’s needed for a conviction, which is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Even then, some criminal defense attorneys say there are other issues that might impact the case.
“This man has been demonized immediately and on an ongoing basis, and I think it’s going to be very tough for him to get a fair trial at this point because of the way the district attorneys have fed into the negative publicity around him,” said Hoelscher.
