Bullshit. I’ve stood in front of a judge and heard the judge explain each element of the crime and then agreed that the state could prove me guilty, because someone lied through their teeth to get me there. Pleading guilty in this country is in no fucking way proof you did what you were accused of. Innocent people plead guilty every fucking day and you God-Damn-Well know it.
If I was the girls father, I would request that he do community service, like working with handicapped kids in school or something but request for no jail time on principle alone. The guy needs experience dealing with this type of population, more than being housed and fed on the taxpayers dime.
Jerkiness needs to be deterred with jail time?
Are you comfortable with the implications of this?
There’s no implications. I’m talking about this specific case, not adopting this as a general principle.
That’s the problem with the legal system. Precedents get set.
If they eventually come for Carrot Top this may be something I can get behind.
Fine. I hope it gets overturned on appeal. After he’s served 30 days in jail.
You should read what I wrote again.
I didn’t say he was in fact guilty. I said he answered “Yes,” when a judge asked him if he was pleading guilty because he was, in fact, guilty.
He cannot appeal. He entered a plea of guilty. That waives all claims of defect. (Well, technically, it waives all non-jurisdictional claims of defect).
Ok, fine with me. 30 days in jail, no appeal. I still don’t have a problem with it.
Then why make your post at all? You agree there’s a chance he’s Innocent, right? What are you trying to say?; “He admitted it but I agree it may be coerced and there’s a good chance the guy did nothing wrong.”?
I see what you did there.
Obviously a fine, upstanding gentleman like this would be sure to go into his community service with a broken, contrite spirit and resolute attitude, eager to grow and learn from his misdeeds by service to those less fortunate than himself, rather than having a sullen, resentful attitude, doing as little actual work as humanly possible, and constantly calling the lucky children he is working with “toddler tards” or “his little palsy pals” under his bourbon-perfumed breath.
Thanks for that, Tom.
I’m now less puzzled about why the USA has such a high prison population.
He’s going to jail, not prison. However, our jails are overcrowded also, mostly with people awaiting trial who will be released based on time served when they’re finally convicted.
Was this guy his own lawyer?
I think the sentence was too harsh. Maybe if he tried to fight it and kept up with the BS excuses about being injured himself.
I think the court of public opinion would have been bad enough with the youtube video. Of course he’ll be fired and will wreck his life.
Ah, l18n error. I meant imprisonment in its most general sense.
Per the OP’s link (and a second I double-checked) he plead ‘no contest’. IIRC, he didn’t admit guilt, he admitted that if he went to trial he’d likely be convicted. Further, though I don’t know the specifics of his jurisdiction, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have had to allocute to the charges–to say that he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty.
Considering even Fred Phelps has not been imprisoned despite being consistently far more vicious then this fellow, it would have been preferable to just let this guy be publically humiliated. Considering the power of the Internet, it probably is not any better then being clapped to the stocks.