Wendy Murphy, (left), a leading New England law professor has stated an attempt is underway to smear Phoebe Prince by one of the attorneys for defendant Austin Renaud, who has been charged with bullying her.
Attorney Terrence Dunphy is seeking "highly personal information" about Phoebe in the months leading up to her death by suicide , a move described by Murphy a former prosecutor and child advocate as “unconscionable.”
Dunphy has asked for the names of any physicians, psychologists or rape counselors Prince saw according to the Boston Herald.
He is also seeking medical and psychological records and details of any prior allegations of rape or abuse and a clarification as to whether her family had been the subject of a Department of Children and Families investigation.
“It’s standard procedure,” Dunphy told the Herald “The document speaks for itself. I’m not explaining anything.”
However, Murphy, a former prosecutor who teaches at the New England School of Law, said the move was “unconscionable,” pointing out that the state had decreed that the defendant in a criminal case is not entitled to a “laundry list of everyone the victim’s ever been treated by.”
“I can only see it as a threat to unveil all the family secrets.” Murphy said.
Renaud, 18, and Sean Mulveyhill, 17, both are accused of having sex with Prince, a 15-year-old who hanged herself in the stairway of her home less than six months after moving from Ireland.
Mulveyhill, Kayla Narey, 17, and three 16-year-olds - Flannery Mullins, Ashley Longe (pictured below) and Shannon Chanon Velazquez - also face other charges.
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