Ozzy bloke hanged

[The_Munchmaster]

Batty said: Wasn?t there a case here about 8 years ago involving two Fellang who killed a bar girl? They beat her around the head with a concrete slab until she died, and then threw her in a canal. I think they served 3 years, then got a pardon and deported. Again, compare this to the drug trafficker. Crazy, fucked up world we live in...

Read the other day about a guy in Saudi who got 2 years for stealing a computer! ::

[Flashermac]

My sister knows a guy in the States who got sent to prison because he was getting a haircut in a barber shop when a couple of guys apparently were doing a drug deal on the phone. The feds argued the guy must have heard what was going on, and since he didn't notify the police that meant he was a "conspirator". WTF???

[Evel_Penivel]

Flashermac said:

My sister knows a guy in the States who got sent to prison because he was getting a haircut in a barber shop when a couple of guys apparently were doing a drug deal on the phone.

 

That sounds a bit urban legend-ish. Overhearing a phone conversation and not reporting it isn't enough to get you convicted, even with the world's worst defense lawyer. How could the prosecutor even prove the guy overheard the conversation? Except under very special circumstances, failure to report a crime isn't a crime. And it takes more than overhearing a phone call to link the accused to a conspiracy.

 

I do know from my job that many times those convicted of drug conspiracies and then yell about how unfair it is often leave out important details when talking to the press. I checked out the story of a young woman who claimed she been given five years in prison because she had "answered the phone" a few times for a boyfriend she didn't know was a drug dealer. The truth was a bit more complicated. She had conveyed messages about drug drops to the boyfriend from his supplier (the conversations had been taped via a wiretap).

 

Neither she nor the boyfriend had a job but lived at a very high standard, so she materially benefitted from the conspiracy. Most importantly, she declined an opportunity to cut a deal with the prosecutor to testify against the boyfrend and others and therefore took her chances at trial. She rolled the dice and lost. One could argue that five years was an excessive sentence for the role she played in the conspiracy, but there was no doubt she did play an active part.

[Flashermac]

That's the guy's story anyway. And as far as I know he wasn't involved in any dealings himself. But wierd things happen in today's "perfect" America -- which is why I have my own doubts about the death penalty:

 

http://www.truthinjustice.org/database.htm

[Guest]

Which is why I oppose the death penalty on policy grounds. No redress of grievances in case it's the wrong guy. But if it IS the RIGHT guy, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. And a lot of the ones who get executed by mistake may have been innocent of that particular crime, but are generally shady enough that there was something in their background they would have been popped for if they had got caught. rare is the Hitchcockian innocent man falsely accused.

 

Not saying anything against your sister, but I've been tols a share of cock and bull stories myself over the years. I'd be very surprised if that guy had told everything.

[sayjann]

'Unless their appearance changed drastically in the 5-6 years they were incarerated, someone would recognize them, as their pictures were plastered over the television and newspapers for quite a long time'

 

very true,but facial features can be changed by facial hair or glasses etc.

the Pix we see plastered all over the place were of their School Photos looking so angelic.

they are both now 20ish and i know that i for one looked quite different when i was 20 as opposed to 10.

 

and they are protected.

the Tabloids are after them wanting to expose them but the Courts forbid any identification of them and if any clues are given then they are moved to another location.

 

the same with Maxine Carr.

the Media know where she is and give out clues but she is moved around the Country to protect her.

the Media still find her and after a while she is moved again along with her minders.

[jitagawn]

America the land of the free? Doesnt seem so does it?

The Feds have been given so much judicial powerThe "Patriot act is a joke" that the balance is egregiously out of of whack.

Amazing really amazing-Cant wait to get back to LOS in12 days.There is a material sterility here that is most unsettling.

[Flashermac]

America still is the land of the free ... if your name is say Bush or Kennedy.

 

We have an old family friend in the US, a judge with many decades on the bench, including presiding in capital cases. (He's sent I don't know how many convicted killers to their death.) He told me the federal courts are very different from the state courts -- and he is not happy with a lot of what goes on in the federal courts these days. Seems the presumption now is one of guilt and you somehow have to prove you are not.

[FAT_AUSSIE]

Giulty or not guilty, The fella had heroin strapped to his back. He has no defence, nobody can strap anything to your back without youself noticing. Simple. He's guilty and given the possible hardships even possible OD's resulting in deaths he could have potentially caused I think weather he killed someone with the drugs he was bringing into Australia was something he just did not care about.

 

He in my my mind IS guilty and given his crime and the gravity of it's implications he deserved to be hanged.

 

Allthough I don't alltogether agree with capital punnishment for some crimes and where there is an degree of doubt this is one of those crimes and there was no doubt about his guilt.

[Hugh_Hoy]

Yep. Lots of differences between state and fed courts. The big difference I noticed were the way judges presided over the courtrooms. Fed judges usually run the show with an iron fist and don't give the lawyers much time for "bs". I remember one judge actually taking over the questioning of a witness, when it was obvious that the witness was trying to skirt answering a question in a direct manner...in fact, close to committing perjury. Didn't spend a lot of time in state courts, but don't recall seeing it the way it was done in this particular manner.

 

I'd be interested to know why your family friend feels the way he does with respect to "presumed guilt". The only time I saw evidence of that in a federal court was during "voir dire" (that portion of a proceeding where potential jurors are questioned prior to being formally seated for a trial). When the judge asked the panel if there was anybody who could not perform their duty to "presume innocence" and base their decision strictly on evidence presented, one retired Navy CPO raised his hand and said, "I have a problem believing federal agents have nothing better to do than spend their days rounding up innocent people". Needless to say, the defense didn't have to use one of their challenges to get this guy off the jury. (The judge thanked the man for his time and released him from the case.)

 

HH