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July 16, 2008
Posted: 03:14 PM ET

NEW YORK — The Rosa case is all about young people. And we talk about young people a lot in this country. But we don’t talk about what happens to them when they get old.

Take the case of Theodore Pressman who left his elderly parents in the family car for three hours while he drove his bus route. It was a hot day and his mother got out, but his father died. And now their son, who was by all accounts a devoted son, is facing up to five years in prison.

All this happened in Peekskill, New York, one of countless communities struggling in the face of dying industry and a failing economy. Ted couldn’t afford to lose his job. He even lived with his parents, but as they aged he couldn’t afford the kind of help they needed at home. So he parked them in diners, coffee shops and in the car itself and went to work. It was a bad choice. But it wasn’t criminal.

What is criminal is the way we treat old people in this country. Until we give our seniors the help they need, we have no right to pass judgment on their adult children. And that’s the Last Word.

–Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

Filed under: Jami Floyd • Last Word


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dan teter   July 16th, 2008 4:50 pm ET

may I ask what the body temperature was at the time of arrival for medical team and what was the outside temperature at the time the body was found??

Jacquie   July 16th, 2008 4:51 pm ET

My question is why would Rosa have gloves and nail clippers in his pocket if he just went out for a jog and then why was there any amount of Stephens blood be on them He did this and was quick to run out saying I need a phone some kid is hurt good idea to cover himself~~NOT! You know they say the quiet shy ones have hidden secrets, path kinda leads to him 90% not 100% yet will watch and see.

Robert Haller   July 16th, 2008 4:57 pm ET

According to the prosecution Stephen Tomlinson was strangled, what kind of DNA evidence was taken from around his neck and did it match that of Rosa’s. We have heard that there was a lot of gathering DNA evidence. Once a suspect has been idenified and supposed to be the killer isn’t it odd that all the focus is on the one person. All investagating of all possibilties end. Valuable evidence and other inportant clues are lost!

christine windham   July 16th, 2008 9:19 pm ET

Jamie you ROCK…. you are the best if i ever needed lawyer i would want you on my side…………………..

Klaatu   July 17th, 2008 8:32 am ET

Poor Guy! I feel so bad for him. Maybe the prosceutor will be able to work something out, I hope so.

ryan parker   July 17th, 2008 10:07 am ET

100% agree The man made a bad choice but i’m sure had no intent of any kind to kill his mother.

sandre brown   July 17th, 2008 12:21 pm ET

any way jami like thry saying if look like a duck and walk like one he is the ones ok

Shelkobe   July 17th, 2008 2:06 pm ET

Hell must have frozen over because I agree with you Jamie. I do not think this man meant any harm, but used incredibly poor judgment. Resources to assist with elder care are sorely lacking in this country. I suspect this man also wanted to keep his parents together.

Frank   July 18th, 2008 9:07 am ET

You’ve got that exactly right. Here in Michigan old people who have an episode of some kind are whisked off to a emergency room and when they come back all to often families are told the “doctor” said “don’t bring them back.” What was meant, if it was said at all, is not known. I could mean this is minor or it could mean just the natural dying process. Whatever the case, the old person is put in a back room and starved to death. In one case, the “dying process” took twenty-three and a half (23 1/2) days, in another nineteen (19) days. All the while these old people knew their own family, under pressure and coercion from Hospice, a Medicaid funded outfit, the family had signed their life away under guise of “no resusitation.” We need an investigation of this, it is murder by any name and an absolute disgrace. There is a lot more to it but not enough space here to write it all. Where or where is the Department of Justice, the Federal Marshal, the State Attorney General to allow euthanization of people who worked their entire lives to pay for all the above, including Medicaid and Hospice. Frank

CHRISSY   July 18th, 2008 10:57 am ET

Agreed……..and the really sad thing is, that the war our country is involved in now addresses the way people from those countries are being treated, we need/ better take a look at our own! It’s not our business to be there! we have enough going on here, that we need to take a very serious look at our own mess. Our elderly are just one issue. We have child molesting, domestic violence, homelessness, young people selling drugs just to eat and have a place to live, medicine and health care rates are outragous……. less I mention gas prices and our president and vice president are Texas oilmen. (yikes)!!We have alot going on right here in America!!! and billions going towards a war we have no business in! Bring our troops and jobs back home!!!

Spider   July 22nd, 2008 5:04 am ET

Jami, Jami, Jami.

It was a “bad choice”, but it wasn’t criminal? His negligence in assuming his role as caretaker for his elderly parents resulted in the death of his own father. That is gross negligence, “criminal” negligence. His father’s life has ended. If anything, five years in jail is too light a punishment.
I’m sure if one of the nurses at your parent’s Senior Facility allowed your father to sit outside on a hot August afternoon until he succumbed to heat stroke, you would just say “It was a bad choice. But it wasn’t criminal.”
Don’t know why I submit comments to this blog. This will stay in moderation until October. One of possibly a dozen comments submitted all month long, but there’s never any printed. Waste of time, but I love commenting on Jami’s articles. Another waste of time…Jami.

Miriam   July 23rd, 2008 10:17 am ET

I so agree with you Spider! I am not sure what Jami is all about or if she agrees to hold people accountable for their actions and I do not believe she does. She says so herself. From her own mouth this is the impression she gives!!!! This is a very liberal progressive way of thinking.

patty,redford,mi   July 23rd, 2008 11:40 am ET

I think Hough was ticked off that he was restricted as to where he could live.I think that he wanted to live somewhere that had no close neighbors.He seemed to have a problem with anyone who lived next to (or behind) him. He should have applied at a fire dept. in a rural area. If Det.Bovenzi was his neighbor I bet that he would of had a problem with him too! This cold guy didn’t even show any emotion or remorse when the victim was reliving that God awful night. I thank God that this guy will be off the the streets before he really “snapped” and killed his whole family! I’m sure it was only a matter of time!

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Sidebar takes you behind the scenes of the day's legal headlines with breaking news and in-depth analysis from In Session's anchors and correspondents.

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Former defense attorney and anchor of her own daily program Jami Floyd: Best Defense
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