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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Florida Girl's Body Found
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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 02-06-2004 08:24 AM
The jerk was caught before on a similar rap, and the jury believed his bullshit story! quote:
In the 1997 kidnapping case, a 20-year-old woman in Bradenton said a man grabbed her as she walked by and tried to pull her away, according to records released by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
"He got on top of me and told me to shut up or he would cut me," she told authorities. After a struggle, she said, she managed to run into the street, and passengers in an approaching van stopped and rescued her.
Smith, found hiding behind a house by a police tracking dog, was acquitted by jurors after telling them he was trying to keep the woman from running into the street and she misunderstood.
Yeah, mounting a woman and saying, "shut up, or I'll cut you" can be easily misconstrued. Yet another reason we should have professional juries.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 02-06-2004 03:37 PM
I don't have a TV in the flat either. Because I deal with moving images at work all day, I like to have a break from them when I get home (although I do watch the occasional DVD on the computer).
Quote from the CNN story:
quote:
"We have fulfilled another portion of our obligation. We have found Carlie and the person responsible for her murder," said Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Bell. [My italics]
I'm amazed that a police spokesman could come out with a statement like that in public. The guy they arrested has not been convicted yet! If I were his defence lawyer I would argue that this statement, coming from the Police and having been widely reported, has irreversibly prejudiced any chance he ever had of getting a fair trial and that the charges should therefore be thrown out. If he is guilty, that would be a tragedy which puts other innocent lives at risk.
This is a very different style of crime reporting from that of our media. The moment someone is charged with a crime here the issue becomes 'sub judice' (under the law), meaning that all you can report is that 'Joe Bloggs, 25, of <insert location here>, is charged that on 1 January 2000 he murdered John Doe at <insert location here>.' No further coverage related to the accused can be published until the trial, during which the media can only report a factual account of what was said during the trial. If Bloggs' ex-girlfriend turns up at the offices of a newspaper and reveals all about what a pervert he is, that newspaper cannot print any of it until after the trial; the reason being that doing so could prejudice potential jurors who read it.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-06-2004 04:27 PM
On one level, I would agree that the Sheriff made an inappropriate comment when claiming to have "found the person responsible for her murder." Further, I would agree the American media does a shameful job in sensationalizing crimes and making suspects appear guilty far in advance of their trial. It is all over the motive of trying to "scoop" all their competitors. The jackals don't realize they're risking lives in the process. I would even go so far as to say the American media is greatly responsible for a lot of the murder and mayhem we have in our country, thanks to their indoctrination of Americans through popular culture. Canada has just as many guns, but nowhere near the level of homicides.
However, it should be said the Sheriff was emotional (as were many of us) when the search ended in finding the girl dead. Other facts have to be considered. The "suspect" made comments in jail that led the police to her body. There is foresnic evidence that the girl was in his car. We haven't seen the NASA-technology-enhanced photos gleaned from the videotape, but the police have. They have also heard a lot from the lady who lived with the suspect.
I would say the Sheriff is both confident, and very pissed off. So he slipped a bit. Overall, that law enforcement agency has been very good at handling the case thus far. They refused to give anything but the most basic details to the press about the suspect once he was in custody. Overall, it is the press that is jumping to far more conclusions than the law enforcement people.
I just hope the Florida court system does their best to make sure the suspect gets a fair trial and that no mistakes are made in handling his case. My own hope is that they have lots of DNA and other evidence on hand for the trial to remove all doubt.
Then, if the guy is convicted, execute the bastard. Too bad cruel and unusual punishment is against the law. Lethal injection is too easy a way to die for any child killer. They need the gas chamber --or better yet, they need to be electrocuted through their testicles.
The Sheriff seems to be making comments based on strong confidence that the guy they have in custody is very likely the killer. Everyone involved in this case, and the public in general, is outraged over this crime.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 02-06-2004 06:14 PM
quote:
I would say the Sheriff is both confident, and very pissed off. So he slipped a bit. Overall, that law enforcement agency has been very good at handling the case thus far. They refused to give anything but the most basic details to the press about the suspect once he was in custody. Overall, it is the press that is jumping to far more conclusions than the law enforcement people.
Granted, and a fair criticism of our system would be that it tends to go too far in the other direction. Following the conviction of Ian Huntley, who murdered two schoolgirls in a small commuter town not far from Cambridge, it emerged that there had been a string of allegations relating to sexual offences made against him. The police were strongly criticised for not making that information available to his victims' school when he applied for a job as a caretaker there (they claimed that data protection laws prevented them from doing so), and the 'sub judice' rule was criticised because it prevented the jury from knowing about these allegations when considering its verdict.
This was a really difficult one. He'd never previously been convicted of anything, and I for one would have a big problem with the police handing out information about anyone other than criminal record information. There's a potentially huge civil liberties issue there, IMHO - for example, if someone maliciously accused me of sexual harassment, the last thing I would want is for the police to make that information available to an organisation I've applied for a job at. But in Huntley's case, if information about the earlier complaints had been divulged, it could well have saved two lives.
I don't support the death penalty but would certainly say that if the Florida suspect is guilty he should never see the light of day again.
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