Crime

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What Will it Take?

Seriously, what does it take for an officer to go to trial when he kills an unarmed person?

Immortal last words: "I can't breathe."

Immortal last words: “I can’t breathe.”

It certainly doesn’t take the coroner finding the death a homicide.  It certainly doesn’t take an officer using an illegal choke hold.  It doesn’t even take a video of the incident clearly showing the officer choking the life out of a person.

What does an officer have to do to face a trial?

I suppose doing this to a white person might do it.

Once more, the scam we know as Grand Juries was used by the District Attorney’s office to protect its own.  If you don’t know what a Grand Jury is and how it can be abused, please read my previous blog here as well as the one where I explain why the Ferguson one was a complete farce.

Seriously, is it any wonder people are rioting?  Their government is against them.

(The fun part of this, however, is listening to conservatives and libertarians who rail about Big Brother having too much power over our lives bending over backwards to support a militarized police force doing whatever it wants.)

 

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Why do DAs use Grand Juries? (And Why the Ferguson Grand Jury was a Sham)

In every other country and in many of the states, Grand Juries are no longer used.  And for good reason.

If the purpose is to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring a case forward, it’s much better to have a preliminary hearing instead, open to the public, where evidence can be challenged by a defense attorney and reviewed by an independent judge.  grandjury

Yet in states that allow Grand Juries and have preliminary hearings, DAs still use them.  Why?  (If you didn’t read yesterday’s blog about what Grand Juries really are, please read that before continuing.)

A District Attorney usually knows whether he or she will bring charges — and, after all, the chance of a Grand Jury not indicting is smaller than the chance of being hit by lightning, so why do they go through the process?

Because it gives them an advantage.

It allows them to put witnesses on the stand, under oath, without having to deal with defense attorneys objecting or judges stopping them from asking questions they are not supposed to be asking.  And then they have advance notice of what witnesses will say at the preliminary hearing and at the trial.  If a witness changes his or her testimony, the DA can whip out the transcript of the Grand Jury and impeach their testimony.  It’s also a great way to grab up a bunch of suspects, get them under oath, and force them to testify so you can figure out who to charge for the main crime and who to charge with conspiracy.  (Note:  Defense lawyers are allowed to attend but can only advise their clients not to speak; we can’t object to questions or cross-examine.)

The rules here in Pennsylvania allow DAs to hold onto those transcripts of the preliminary hearing and not show the defense attorneys until the actual literal last minute.  Seriously.  I had a trial last year that lasted three weeks and after one of my witnesses took the stand, then the DA had to give me a copy of the transcript from the Grand Jury that he was going to use to impeach her during his cross-examination.  The trial stopped for an hour while I and the other defense counsel rushed through reading it so we could “prepare.”  No wonder DAs like that!

That’s why many lawyers (on both sides) know the Grand Jury system is a sham.  It’s a waste of taxpayer time and money, and harks back to old English common law, predating the Constitution and the rights we usually take for granted (such as open hearings and the right to cross-examine).

DAs also use them for political reasons. In the Ferguson case, it was used to shield the DA from a crime he really never wanted to prosecute in the first place.

He held a Grand Jury and acted more like a defense attorney — even calling the defendant cop as a witness so he could tell his side of the story.  Got that?  The DA called the guy he was supposedly going to prosecute and gave him the opportunity to tell his own version of the story, and the defendant willingly did so — not exercising his right to remain silent — because he knew the DA was never going to prosecute him.

“This trial is a travesty. It’s a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham … ”  — Woody Allen, Bananas

Here’s what you need to remember:  A Grand Jury is not an adversarial proceeding.  It’s a government activity, run completely by the government.  And in this case, the government investigated the government and decided that the government did nothing wrong.

And that should make everyone mad, liberal or conservative.

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Megan’s Law Overkill

It is possible to hate Megan’s Law without supporting child molesters, you know.

Megan’s Law requires those convicted of certain sexual offenses to register where they live.  They get their face and name plastered all over the web and people in the neighborhood knows who they are.  It also restricts where they can live so that they cannot come into contact with children.  It’s like having to wear a big Scarlet Letter for the rest of their lives.  Vector illustration of a man lock up in prison

The problem is that legislators have made the law so expansive and added so many limitations that it can provide a punishment much harsher than the underlying crime.

I have a current case wherein my client, who was a good, upstanding citizen with no criminal record, copped a feel from a 14 year old girl.  That is absolutely wrong, and a crime, and he admitted to it and went to face his penalty.  He got a few months in jail for this.

But Pennsylvania recently changed its Megan’s Law, and now this crime — a misdemeanor — is included.  He finished his jail time and was ready to be released, but lo and behold, Megan’s Law won’t let him go back to the home in New York city where he’s lived for most of his adult life.  You see, he has an upstairs tenant and they have a four-year old girl.

So he found a relative to live with.  Nope, no good — Megan’s Law says you can’t live within a certain distance of schools or bus stops, and that distance means that there is practically no place in New York where you can live.  He’s now searching for someplace outside of the city, which means he has to rent a new place and commute a long distance every day.  (It also means he can’t use a computer because, you know, people can use it to look at child pornography.  In this day and age, not being able to use a computer is like not being able to watch TV or go to the library.)

This guy is no risk.  His evaluation showed that he was not a pedophile.  They checked him out completely and there was no child pornography anywhere in his home or on his computer.  He did not fit the profile of a child abuser in the slightest.

He copped a feel over the clothes of a mature 14 year old, and now he is on a list that everyone can see but not know what he actually did.  For all they know, he raped a child.  Megan’s Law doesn’t care or differentiate.

If he had punched her in the face, he would have gotten less jail time.

Once more, I am not against Megan’s Law in principle, but this is like treating a murderer and a jaywalker with the same harsh lifetime penalty.

 

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Why do people think it’s OK to beat kids?

“What’s the big deal?” some say.  “So what if a parent beats their kid?  I was beat and I turned out all right.”

Well, no.  No, you didn’t.  You’re not all right, because you think it’s OK to beat kids.  1594641_370

There are many things our parents and grandparents did that are not all right.  For instance, there used to be no law against raping your wife.  She’s your property, right?  The fact that your parents thought this was just fine does not make it just fine.

At the same time, there certainly are people who go way too far in the other direction — I’ve had cases where parents were charged with neglect for the most ridiculous of things (“You left your kids alone for ten minutes while you went to the store!”)  I am not falling for the slippery slope argument here.  But beating your kid?  I mean, really beating them so it hurts?  No, we should be past those days now.

My parents would whap me with a flyswatter on my butt.  That was the extent of their “beatings.”  It only hurt psychologically.  But even so, that was in the 60s, and things have changed.  I don’t want to open the door and make distinctions (“If you hit your kid with a soft flyswatter, that’s OK, but a hard one?  No way.”)  I think we should be telling parents not to hit their kids at all.

An assault is an assault.  It doesn’t become a “not-assault” simply because it was your child.  Your children are not your property.

It is wrong to hit your wife;  it is wrong to hit your husband;  it is wrong to hit your friends;  it is wrong to hit strangers;  it is wrong to hit your pets;  it is wrong to hit anyone.

And it is especially wrong to hit a small child.

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Another non-Muslim attack

As I write this, there is a murdering gunman loose in my area.  He stalked a state trooper barracks and then killed one who was merely going to work, and critically injured another.  Schools have closed, and everyone is in a panic, worrying where he could show up next.

If I told you that it was a white guy who hates the government and loves his guns, you wouldn’t be at all surprised, would you?

Yet no one is saying we should round up all the white guys, close down their churches, and declare war on libertarian extremism. I mean, come on, it’s not like the guy is Muslim.

I refuse to put the killer's picture up. This is Trooper Bryon Dickson. (He looks familiar; I'm trying to remember if I've had any cases with him.)

I refuse to put the killer’s picture up. This is Trooper Bryon Dickson. (He looks familiar; I’m trying to remember if I’ve had any cases with him.)

The fact is that we are much more likely to be a victim of crazy anti-government white guy attacks in this country than we are from any Muslim terrorist group.   It was only a year ago that another one of these extremists shot up a local government meeting just a few miles from my house, killing three.

And then there’s last June, with those Las Vegas killers who belonged to a white supremacist group.

And let’s not forget Timothy McVeigh.  And that guy who flew a plane into an IRS building.  Then there’s the guys who shoot abortion clinic doctors in the name of Jesus. But for restraint on the part of the US government, I’d probably be including Clive Bundy on this list as well …  Just a long list of angry white guys who hate the government and only know how to take action with violence against innocent people.

Terrorists, that’s what they are.

So the next time a friend talks about how we should be suspecting every single Muslim person in America, ask if we should be doing the same for every single white conservative, because you’re much more likely to be killed by one of them.

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Ferguson solutions

by guest blogger David Gerrold

I haven’t said much about Ferguson because I haven’t taken the time to read all the news accounts. What I have read makes me recoil in horror. It is as if someone has pulled the blanket off the bed and revealed a horrifying mass of skittering cockroaches — Missouri’s institutionalized racism and bigotry are now on display for the entire world to see.

Elsewhere, the news is reporting other shooting deaths of young black men, other unfair incarcerations, other miscarriages of justice — I have to wonder if some of this isn’t a backlash against the first African-American president, but more than that, I have to wonder about the great wealth of skills and abilities and talent that are being wasted, that are being denied to us.

How many George Washington Carvers, Booker T. Washingtons, Harriet Tubmans, Maya Angelous, Neil deGrasse Tysons, Duke Ellingtons, and Martin Luther Kings are we jailing, suppressing, and killing?  ferguson-police

How many opportunities for a cure for some pernicious disease? How many great works of art or literature? How many brilliant performances? How many great scientists? How many incredible educators?

What we are doing to ourselves and our nation is attacking ourselves and a vital part of our own culture. We are punishing our own ability to succeed and thrive. And why? Because we’re still fighting a war that both sides lost over a hundred and fifty years ago. The south lost the war, the north lost the victory, and America is impoverished because we have not yet begun to heal the wounds, instead we just inflict deeper wounds upon ourselves.

Regardless of the circumstances of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson (and right now, I do not trust anything the police are saying), but regardless of the circumstances, what has been revealed is much deeper than one incident or even a pattern of incidents. What has been revealed is the portrait in our attic, the one that reveals the rot and corruption we have allowed to fester.

There is only one sure and certain way to change any of this. Register and vote.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to click the remote control.

Nebula and Hugo award winning author David Gerrold is the author of over 50 books, several hundred articles and columns, and over a dozen television episodes. TV credits include episodes of Star Trek, Babylon 5, Twilight Zone, Land Of The Lost, Logan’s Run, and many others. Novels include WHEN HARLIE WAS ONE, THE MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF, the “War Against the Chtorr” septology, The “Star Wolf” trilogy, The “Dingilliad” young adult trilogy, and more. The autobiographical tale of his son’s adoption, THE MARTIAN CHILD won the Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette of the Year and was the basis for the 2007 movie starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, and Joan Cusack. His web page is here.

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Yeah, that doesn’t help

Many residents of Ferguson, Missouri were rightly angered by the shooting of an unarmed man by police.  Protests ensued, and the FBI is taking a close look at it.

Protests are good.  Show your anger, demand answers.

But for God’s sake, stop the looting and vandalism.   looter No one looks at that and says, “Gee, those poor people must be right.  Burning businesses that had absolutely nothing to do with the situation and stealing from them surely is the best way to get back at police who have gotten out of hand.”

These people may have watched Spike Lee’s excellent “Do the Right Thing” and decided that this is how you protest.  (In the film, a young unarmed man is killed by police, after which the neighborhood riots and destroys local businesses).  But even that film didn’t say that the looting and destruction was a good thing that should be emulated.

Martin Luther King had it right:  Appealing to American’s sense of right and wrong is the way to get public opinion on your side, and that is what leads to change.  Violence only creates enemies out of those who could be your allies.

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I am in favor of murder and rape, according to Republicans

Yes, it is true.  I have represented some terrible people.  That’s my job as a defense attorney.

Clearly, then, I support criminal activity.  I mean, there is no other explanation.  It certainly can’t be that I support the United States Constitution, especially the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th amendments.

The Republican Governor’s Association knows this is true.  They are running ads against a Democrat in South Carolina who fought against the powerful District Attorneys and Attorneys General, who protected citizens against abuses by the police, who made sure that everyone’s Constitutional rights were not violated as they went through the system, and even helped some innocent people fight against unfair accusations.

So what do the ads say?  “He supported violent criminals instead of South Carolina.”

So yes, it’s true.  I am an anti-American person who doesn’t deserve any respect, because I am in favor of crime.  I am lower than the people I represent.  How dare I demand that we obey the Constitution.

Let’s hope this ad backfires on the GOP, as it should.

But then again, this is South Carolina, where they elected Mark Sanford after he had used government money to support his mistress.  Violating the Ten Commandments?  No big deal.  Supporting the United States Constitution?  What a terrible person!

 

 

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Family Values

There’s been another example of a Republican cheating on his wife and getting caught with a mistress.do as is say

Yes, some of you respond, but Democrats do that too!  Remember Bill Clinton?

You’re right.  Democrats certainly have no monopoly on ethical behavior.   In the last few weeks there have been a bunch of Democrats being caught in money scandals, for instance (as they rightly should have been).

The issue though isn’t about ethics;  it’s about hypocrisy.

Politicians who talk about “family values” being so important are while they are undermining those same values are hypocrites.   Voting against gay marriage and then getting caught soliciting sex in a men’s bathroom doesn’t help your cause much.   Being against abortion while telling your girlfriend to get one does little to endear you to anyone.

And that’s why it’s news.    And why it gets bigger coverage than it probably should.  It’s the hypocrisy, stupid.

And rightly so.

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Killing the death penalty

Jay Inslee, the Governor of Washington, announced that his state will be joining the growing list of states that will no longer have the death penalty.

“Blah blah!” you scream.  “Blah blah blah blah!”   

Yes, yes, I know.  Some people deserve it, vengeance should be part of our legal system, and even though there is absolutely no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent, it is a deterrent. death Yes, I know.  Thank you.  You can stop now.

I will never shed a tear for certain people who received the death penalty in America (Good riddance, Timothy McVeigh). But I am very familiar with our judicial system.  It’s what I do for a living, you know.  And all of us who do this for a living will admit that our system is not perfect.  Innocent people get found guilty all the time, and guilty people get found not guilty.   Sometimes we don’t realize our mistakes until way later.  And then it is often too late to do anything about it.

We should not have a punishment that is 100% irreversible in a system that is not 100% perfect.  Too many innocent people (mostly poor, largely minority) have been put to death only to be exonerated much later by DNA evidence, witnesses recanting their testimony, or proof of DA and/or police conspiracies.  It does happen, and more often than we would like to admit.

And we as a country should not stand for it.

That doesn’t mean we free everybody.  Governor Inslee made that very clear with his announcement.  “No one is getting out of jail!” he said.

So good job, Washington.  Maybe soon the US will join the rest of the advanced civilized democratic world in getting rid of the death penalty completely.   But by then, how many more innocent people would we have killed?