She's So Cold - The Stephanie Crowe Murder Case: A Defense Attorney's Inside Story of coerced confessions of innocent teenage boys

Think this couldn’t happen to your family? Think again.In January 1998, the small town of Escondido, California, woke up to the breaking news that 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe had been brutally stabbed to death in her own bedroom. Her lifeless body had been discovered about 6:30 a.m. by her grandmother. The Escondido police, finding no physical evidence that could lead them to the killer, began questioning Stephanie’s older brother, Michael Crowe, and two of his friends, Joshua Treadway and Aaron Houser. Following long hours of intense interrogation that stretched well into the night, Michael, then Joshua, “confessed” to the murder. Aaron maintained his claim of innocence. Although the boys had been advised of their rights to remain silent and to be represented by an attorney, they waived their rights. They and their parents naively believed that because they were innocent, they had nothing to fear. Three weeks after the murder, all three boys were arrested, charged with murder, and held in juvenile hall. In She’s So Cold, Donald E. McInnis guides the reader through the twists and turns of a gripping real-life mystery that changed forever the lives of fifteen people. In an effort to prevent this type of injustice from occurring to others, the author has proposed a new Miranda warning specifically worded for juveniles, as well as a Children’s Bill of Rights. She’s So Cold is the story of a broken system. A system stacked against families and, most of all, against children. This is an updated edition of She’s So Cold. It has been revised and restructured to highlight the relevancy of this case to current police and justice-system reform efforts and the Black Lives Matter movement. It provides a greater focus on the criminal-justice system, the inability of children to understand their constitutional rights, and the harm police officers and prosecutors can, and do, inflict upon impressionable and easily manipulated youth who are treated as though they have the experience and mental capacity of adults. Donald E. McInnis is a former California Deputy District Attorney and Deputy Public Defender who represented Aaron Houser in the Stephanie Crowe murder case. Praise for She’s So Cold . . . Midwest Book Review: “. . . a powerful read. . . . Donald E. McInnis does an outstanding job of pinpointing the problems of juvenile prosecution methods. . . . No reader of true crime or juvenile rights should be without this outstanding book. . . . Law professors will find She’s So Cold holds much fodder for classroom discussion and debate. ”It is unimaginable what our justice system does with juveniles. I hope the changes as you have suggested are made. —Linda Starr, Executive Director and Clinical Professor of Law, Northern California Innocence Project "Eye-opening and shocking insight into a case that sent three innocent young boys to criminal court for murder." —Crime Traveler

Donald E. McInnis is a criminal defense attorney who represented Aaron Houser in the Stephanie Crowe murder case. He has specialized as a litigator trying criminal and civil cases. During his four-decades-long legal career, Mr. McInnis has served on both the prosecution and defense sides of criminal law. He has also served as a Superior Court Judge Pro Tem, been an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, and a referee/arbitrator for the California Superior Courts. Mr. McInnis lives in San Diego, California, and presses for reforms within the criminal justice system.