# The schadenfreude keeps a-comin' in Winkler County, Texas **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 15, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724 "2011-01-15T17:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/21 "2011-01-16T08:27:19Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Actually, they do find people “Innocent” and not just “Not Guilty”. It’s very rare; the one time I heard of it happening it was pointed out how extremely rare it is. Mostly because it’s much harder to prove your innocence than it is just to prove “a reasonable doubt”. Not in any common law jurisdiction that I know about. You may be thinking of the uncommonly used “not proven” verdict in Scottish law. > [@EllisDee](#): > > The Duke Lacrosse scandal was one example, though it didn’t go to trial. After Mike Nifong was removed from the case, the AG or new DA or whomever was in charge of taking over called a press conference to declare the Duke Lacross players innocent. He clarified that he wasn’t saying there wasn’t enough evidence, or that he believed they weren’t guilty, but that they were, in fact, innocent of the charges. That wasn’t a trial verdict. The courts were not even involved. That was a case of a prosecuting official dropping trumped up charges. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/22 "2011-01-16T09:32:43Z")
Right, which is why I explicitly said that it didn’t go to trial. Didn’t think there would be any confusion over that. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/23 "2011-01-16T14:47:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > As a further note re pissantry, it is common usage to describe an accused person as having been [found innocent of something](http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/04/01/Teacher-found-innocent-of-class-striptease/UPI-32251270146338/), while not declaring that a jury rendered a verdict of innocent. > > And these nurses were [innocent as hell](http://lawmedconsultant.com/320/transcript-of-the-criminal-trial-of-innocent-anne-mitchell-online). The jury took less than an hour to come back with its verdict (and probably took that long only to show they were doing their job). Well, they were still conceived in sin and born in corruption and they passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud. Which is probably why there is no finding of innocent. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/24 "2011-01-16T15:32:33Z")
Olive Oil on an open wound? Hell, everybody knows you use windex. Or Tusin in a pinch. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/25 "2011-01-16T15:50:00Z")
I thought you were supposed to pour honey on them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/26 "2011-01-16T18:33:36Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > No she wasn’t. Courts do not find people “innocent” in the U.S., they find people Not Guilty–ie, the evidence was not sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Actually, they do find people “Innocent” and not just “Not Guilty”. It’s very rare; the one time I heard of it happening it was pointed out how extremely rare it is. Mostly because it’s much harder to prove your innocence than it is just to prove “a reasonable doubt”. Not at the trial level, they don’t. However, in the case of a _post-conviction_ petition for relief (appeal, petition for rehearing, etc.) the burden of proof is on the defense, rather than the prosecution. Thus, if the conviction is overturned or vacated, the defendant has actually been found innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/27 "2011-01-16T20:06:51Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > My memory failed; Kermit is a hell of a way from Muleshoe. How could I forget a thing like that? But Billy Dixon did live in Muleshoe or at least his widow did. Sure it wasn’t Assboink, Idaho? They have a mighty fine Cloaca festival, although you don’t want to be there in the spring when they make their sacrifice to Flagaboo The Muddy One. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/28 "2011-01-16T21:28:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > No she wasn’t. Courts do not find people “innocent” in the U.S., they find people Not Guilty–ie, the evidence was not sufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. [shrug] Not every legal system has the option of the [Scots Verdict.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_proven) (“Not proven,” or, “Not guilty and don’t do it again.”) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/29 "2011-01-17T16:30:34Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > “and 2 counts of official oppression (a class A misdemeanor).” > > First I’ve ever heard of such a charge. > And it’s only a misdemeanor? > > Strangely hilarious and mildy annoying at the same time. Texas Penal Code - Section 39.03. Official Oppression § 39.03. OFFICIAL OPPRESSION. (a) A public servant acting under color of his office or employment commits an offense if he: (1) intentionally subjects another to mistreatment or to arrest, detention, search, seizure, dispossession, assessment, or lien that he knows is unlawful; (2) intentionally denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, knowing his conduct is unlawful; or (3) intentionally subjects another to sexual harassment. (b) For purposes of this section, a public servant acts under color of his office or employment if he acts or purports to act in an official capacity or takes advantage of such actual or purported capacity. (c) In this section, “sexual harassment” means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, submission to which is made a term or condition of a person’s exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, either explicitly or implicitly. (d) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/30 "2011-01-17T16:33:46Z")
It does seem bizarre that intentional wrongful arrest or detention is a misdemeanor. Especially in Texas, where you can probably be executed for moving violations if you have a prior record. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/31 "2011-01-17T17:40:40Z")
Exactly. Just a misdemeanor. I should think that would be a Felony. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/32 "2011-01-17T18:08:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I thought you were supposed to pour honey on them. My dad always used kerosine. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/33 "2011-01-17T19:15:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I can’t find any; as technically inaccurate as the phrase usually is, people use phrases like “found innocent” all the time so Google isn’t much help. It was a minor news story here in California, I didn’t even have internet access back then IIRC much less have the story bookmarked. California does have a provision where the courts can find someone “factually innocent” ([California Penal Code 851.8](http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/851.8.html)). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/34 "2011-01-17T19:22:30Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > California does have a provision where the courts can find someone “factually innocent” ([California Penal Code 851.8](http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/851.8.html)). Thanks! Since it was a California case I was thinking of that must have been it. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/35 "2011-01-17T19:46:44Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Sure it wasn’t Assboink, Idaho? They have a mighty fine Cloaca festival, although you don’t want to be there in the spring when they make their sacrifice to Flagaboo The Muddy One. Muleshoe Texas is a real place and Billy Dixon was a real person, as was his widow who wrote and published the _The Life and Times of Billy Dixon._ Billy Dixon was a buffalo hunter who, at the Battle of Adobe Walls, shot and killed an Indian at a range of just under one mile; one of the most remarkable rifle shots ever documented. So there. Idaho ain’t got nothing to compare. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/36 "2011-01-17T21:01:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It does seem bizarre that intentional wrongful arrest or detention is a misdemeanor. Especially in Texas, where you can probably be executed for moving violations if you have a prior record. I doubt too many Texas officials have been convicted of “official oppression”, but maybe when they wrote the law there was a fear that if the crime was a felony, the state prisons would be filled to overflowing with abuse-of-power offenders. You can imagine the scene in Huntsville: “What’re you in for?” “Murder.” “Rape.” “Issuing an improper lien.” ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/37 "2011-01-17T22:14:44Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > My dad always used kerosine. Seriously. John Steinbeck had a couple of characters discussing the relative benefits of spider web vs. urine, but for a fresh wound, not one that was already infected. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/38 "2011-01-18T01:25:27Z")
The continual drip of threads like this makes it pretty much impossible from this side of the world to shake the feeling that sheriffs in the South are actually pretty much like how they are presented in [del]documentaries[/del] fictional works like “Dukes of Hazzard” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/39 "2011-01-18T01:57:30Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > The continual drip of threads like this makes it pretty much impossible from this side of the world to shake the feeling that sheriffs in the South are actually pretty much like how they are presented in [del]documentaries[/del] fictional works like “Dukes of Hazzard” etc. Thing is, sheriffs get voted in by their counties. A huge proportion of Texas lives in the big cities – Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio – but even including their suburbs there are piles and piles of counties full of country folk. There’s not many people there, and the ones that still live that far out hold kind of a disdain for you big city types. So while the majority of people out here probably aren’t much different than they are where you’re from, small numbers of people hold vast sway over large areas. As for the rape, it’s absolutely fucking horrific and almost unbelievable. I wouldn’t believe it, but the pussyfooting (er, no pun intended :eek:) by the cop involved makes me uncomfortably suspicious. I suppose if it was to happen anywhere, it would be in a small town where all the cops probably played on the same high school football team together. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724/40 "2011-01-18T02:12:02Z")
Ah, yes, the “big city” of Brisbane. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-schadenfreude-keeps-a-comin-in-winkler-county-texas/567724.md?page=3)