Opinion:
Justice for Gabbi taking too long
Bowling Green Daily News
What happened to Gabriella “Gabbi” Doolin in 2015 was and continues to be a horrible tragedy.
For nearly three years, the Doolin family has waited for justice for Gabbi. Losing a child is something no parent should ever have to endure, especially one as young as Gabbi, who was 7 years old at the time of her death.
Her body was found Nov. 14, 2015, in a wooded area near Allen County-Scottsville High School, where her older brother was playing in a sporting event.
Timothy Madden, 41, is charged with murder, kidnapping, first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy in Gabbi’s death.
Since her death, Madden has had every right afforded to him under the law. The trial was postponed twice previously – once to allow Madden’s then-attorney, Travis Lock, additional time to prepare his defense, and another time after Allen County Circuit Judge Janet Crocker disqualified Lock from the case and appointed Tom Griffiths of the state Department of Public Advocacy to represent Madden, who was found indigent.
Madden has even had his trial moved to Hardin County due to the pretrial publicity surrounding the case. That is Madden’s right as he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
We take extreme issue with the fact that it has been nearly three years since Gabbi was taken from her family and friends and we now learn that their family will have to wait for almost another year to seek to get justice for their beloved Gabbi.
A Sept. 4 date for the trial, which is expected to take two weeks, has been set and Allen County Commonwealth’s Attorney Clint Willis is seeking the death penalty. Madden deserves and is entitled to his day in court in a timely manner.
Waiting nearly four years for justice and to begin seeking some degree of closure if Madden is found guilty seems, to us, far too long for a family to wait.
Willis hit the nail on the head when he said Gabbi’s family is ready to have a trial date firmly set after two postponements.
“I’ve been ready for 21/2 years, we could do it (any time) from January to December. The family would prefer (a trial) sooner rather than later. Their perspective is do not move (the date), if we’re going to pick a date, put it in stone,” Willis said last week.
We don’t believe the Doolin family or the prosecution is asking too much to have this trial as soon as possible. Gabbi Doolin was deprived of so many things in her short life. She’ll never be able to obtain a driver’s license, graduate high school and college or have her father walk her down the aisle on her wedding day. She was cheated out of that, sadly, which is all the more reason why this trial should not be taking this long to be held.
It really is a sad day when a family still in deep grief has to wait so long for a trial date to try to get the justice they deserve and so pray for.
https://www.bgdailynews.com/opinion/...eb0935a58.html
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