Kentucky Prosecutor Warns Against Pre-Trial Public Condemnation of Accused Cheerleader
In Kentucky, a legal official has stated that former university cheerleader Laken Snelling, who was arrested recently over her infant's death, is facing undue condemnation from the public.
“The initial human impulse is for individuals to feel outrage and seek accountability,” remarked Ronnie Bowling, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Kentucky’s 34th Judicial Circuit, to WKYT on Tuesday, September 9.
Bowling, who has no involvement in the Snelling inquiry, commented that the ex-University of Kentucky athlete has been demonized across social media platforms even before her legal rights to a fair trial could be exercised.
He emphasized, “A significant amount of public opinion is formed before any concrete, verifiable evidence is presented, which is unjust both to the accused and to the victims we represent.”
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When cases, such as Snelling’s, attract considerable media scrutiny, Bowling noted that prosecutors typically take a highly proactive approach to reviewing news reports during the jury selection process.
Bowling clarified, “For prominent cases, we document those narratives – often by saving or screenshotting and printing online posts and their comments – then we attempt to compare this information with our potential jury pool to identify individuals with biases that would need to be addressed during jury selection.”
Snelling, aged 21, was apprehended at her Lexington, Kentucky residence on August 30, facing accusations of desecrating a corpse, obstructing justice by tampering with evidence, and hiding an infant’s birth.
Officials were sent to Snelling’s home on August 27 following a report concerning an unresponsive baby. An arrest document states that the “baby was discovered enshrouded in a towel within a black garbage bag.”
Snelling “confessed to delivering the child” and to “hiding the birth by removing all evidence, putting all cleaning materials into a black trash bag, along with the baby, who was enclosed in a towel.”
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She entered a plea of not guilty to all allegations and was freed after posting a $100,000 bond. She is currently residing under “home detention without an ankle monitor” at her parents’ residence in Tennessee.
The cause of the infant’s death was determined to be inconclusive, as per a coroner’s report acquired by Us Weekly on Thursday, September 4.
Snelling was previously enrolled at the University of Kentucky and participated for three years on the institution’s STUNT cheerleading squad. A university representative verified to Us on Friday, September 5, that she is no longer a student there nor a member of the STUNT team.
Snelling’s initial court appearance, a preliminary hearing, is scheduled for September 26.
