Attorneys say Springfield paramedics charged with murder should not be accused of crime
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Two Springfield paramedics will appear back in court Friday on charges of murdering a man they were called to help.
CBS 2's Charlie De Mar spoke to one of the paramedics' defense attorneys, who said body camera video may actually help prove a crime wasn't committed.
Attorneys for paramedics Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan say this case is unlike anything they have ever been part of. They say the video shows a crime did not occur.
But prosecutors and the family of the man who died – Earl Moore Jr., 35 – say the video is clear evidence of murder.
Finley and Cadigan appeared briefly in court via Zoom from jail Thursday. The paramedics were arrested and charged with murdering Moore – who himself had dialed 911.
A relative told police Moore was hallucinating from alcohol withdrawals. That was when officers called for an ambulance.
Police body cameras captured Finley yelling at Moore to get up and walk to the ambulance.
With the help of police officers, Moore finally reached the waiting stretcher outside. It appeared Cadigan shoved him down onto his abdomen before both paramedics strapped him down.
"They treated my son like an animal," said Moore's mother, Roseana Washington.
Moore's family's legal team – including civil rights attorney Ben Crump – filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the paramedics and the private ambulance company Lifestar.
We sat down with Moore's mother and sister in their first interview.
"When they first strapped him in, I knew that was wrong. To me - it wasn't their little one. They didn't care. That hurt my soul. That hurt me," Washington said. "That's the last time I see my son move."
Finley and Cadigan's attorneys both said their clients should not be charged with a crime – let alone murder – and they plan to use the body camera video in their defense.
"I don't believe that this involves criminal activity. I don't think it rises to the level of a crime. I know it's not first-degree murder," said W. Scott Hanken, attorney for Peggy Finley. "I've been practicing law for 33 years, and I've never had a case like this. I doubt I'll have another one."
Lifestar declined our request for comment.
