Fritzl case

The Fritzl case emerged in April 2008 when a 42-year-old woman, Elisabeth Fritzl (born April 6, 1966), told police in the town of Amstetten, Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years in a concealed corridor part of the basement area of the large family house by her father, Josef Fritzl (born April 9, 1935), and that Josef had physically assaulted, sexually abused, and raped her numerous times during her imprisonment. The abuse by her father resulted in the birth of seven children; four of whom joined their mother in captivity (one dying just days after birth), while the other three were raised by Josef and his wife, Rosemarie, having been reported as foundlings.

Elisabeth Fritzl's confinement

Three of Elisabeth's children were imprisoned with their mother: 19-year-old daughter Kerstin and sons Stefan, 18, and Felix, 5. Another, Michael, died of respiratory problems three days after birth, having been deprived of all medical help; his body was incinerated by Josef Fritzl on his property. The three other children were raised by Josef and his wife Rosemarie in the upstairs home. Josef claimed that he had discovered the children outside his house as foundlings: Lisa at 9 months in 1993, Monika at 10 months in 1994, and Alexander at 15 months in 1997. When the eldest daughter, Kerstin became seriously ill, Josef acceded to Elisabeth's pleas to take her to a hospital, triggering a series of events that eventually led to their discovery.

Sankt Pölten

Sankt Pölten (German pronunciation: [zaŋkt ˈpœltn̩]), often abbreviated to St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria. With 52,716 inhabitants as of 1 January 2015, it is Lower Austria's largest city. St Pölten is a city with its own statute (or Statutarstadt) and therefore it is both a municipality and a district in the Mostviertel.

Geography

The city lies on the Traisen river and is located north of the Alps and south of the Wachau. It is part of the Mostviertel, the southwest region of Lower Austria.

Transport

The city's main railway station, St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof, is located directly on the West railway of the ÖBB and is also the terminus of the Leobersdorfer Railway, the Mariazellerbahn, the regional railway to Tulln and the regional railway to Krems. It is at the intersection of the Western Motorway A1 and the Kremser Speedway S33, and is traversed by the Vienna Road B1. St Pölten is a junction of the Wieselbus bus lines, which provides radial connections between the capital and the different regions of Lower Austria.

Josef

Josef is a variant of the masculine given name Joseph. People so named include:

Criminal defense lawyer

A criminal defense lawyer, also known as a defense attorney, is a lawyer specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various jurisdictions with criminal courts for appointment to represent indigent persons; the latter are generally called public defenders. The terminology is imprecise because each jurisdiction may have different practices with various levels of input from state and federal law or consent decrees. Some jurisdictions use a rotating system of appointments with judges appointing a private practice attorney or firm for each case.

United States

In the United States, criminal defense lawyers deal with the issues surrounding an arrest, a criminal investigation, criminal charges, sentencing, appeals and post-trial issues. Often an attorney will specialize in a niche within criminal defense such as drug defense or DUI defense. An arrest simply means a police officer or judge believes probable cause exists that a person committed a crime. Since an arrest is usually made by law enforcement, the arrest often is for a criminal charge that has not been levied or verified by an attorney or judge. Criminal defense lawyers also deal with the substantive issues of the crimes with which his or her clients are charged. Criminal defense lawyers may also help clients before charges have been filed by a prosecuting attorney. This is done when someone believes he or she is being investigated or is arrested.