A Tennessee school teacher who led police on a nationwide manhunt after running away with a 15-year-old student is arguing that statements he made after his arrest were coerced and should not be used in court.
Brent Horst, an attorney for 50-year-old Tad Cummins, made the argument in court filings a federal judge released this month, The Tennessean reported Friday.
‘Given the number of constitutional violations in this case and the flagrancy of those violations, it is not an exaggeration to say that in thirty years of the practice of criminal law this is one of the most aggravated cases of the trampling of constitutional rights which Defense Counsel has observed,’ Horst said.
Tad Cummins, 50, is claiming that his estranged wife and law enforcement pressured him to confess to having consensual sex with 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas while on the run
Horst said law enforcement illegally collaborated with Cummins’ estranged wife to pressure him to confess that he had sex with his former student.
Horst also said authorities suggested Cummins could be charged with rape if he did not confess to consensual sex with the girl.
Cummins was charged with taking a minor across state lines for sex, and obstruction of justice after allegedly admitting they had sex during most of their 38 days on the run.
Cummins and the girl disappeared in March. They were found in April at a remote forest cabin near Cecilville, California, following a tip to police.
Cummins was charged with taking a minor across state lines for sex, and obstruction of justice after allegedly admitting they had sex during their run
His lawyers said authorities suggested Cummins could be charged with rape if he did not confess to consensual sex with the girl
Prosecutors are expected to respond to Cummins’ argument this month, and a decision could be made on the matter as soon as January.
A judge ordered Cummins held until trial. He’s filed paperwork saying he is pleading not guilty.
Cummins was said to have spent $1,5000 on a two-seat kayak that he was going to use to get from San Diego to Mexico, according to testimony from FBI Agent Utley Noble.
Noble testified in a federal court in Nashville that Cummins and the student tried to use the kayak to get from San Diego to Mexico.
Prosecutors are expected to respond to Cummins’ (pictured with wife) argument this month, and a decision could be made on the matter as soon as January
Cummins and the girl disappeared in March and it was said that they had sex almost every day of the 38 days that they were missing
Noble also said that Cummins purchased an iPad while on the run as he wanted to keep an eye on what was being reported in the media about them.
Cummins had allegedly thrown their phones into a river in Alabama, disabled the car’s GPS device and replaced the license plates so they wouldn’t be detected when they were on the run from Tennessee to California.
Authorities say Cummins told officers after his arrest that he thought he had been found out when he ran into a law enforcement officer while he was testing out the kayak he had bought.
They were found in April at a remote forest cabin near Cecilville, California, following a tip to police
But he said the officer only warned him and Thomas that the water was rough and gave them tips on the boat and then left.
Cummins, who is a father and grandfather, allegedly told officers he had sex with the girl most nights during the 38 days he was on the run with her.
The sexual relationship with the girl allegedly began the first night after they disappeared March 13.