Not in any common law jurisdiction that I know about. You may be thinking of the uncommonly used “not proven” verdict in Scottish law.
That wasn’t a trial verdict. The courts were not even involved. That was a case of a prosecuting official dropping trumped up charges.
Right, which is why I explicitly said that it didn’t go to trial. Didn’t think there would be any confusion over that.
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.
Olive Oil on an open wound?
Hell, everybody knows you use windex. Or Tusin in a pinch.
I thought you were supposed to pour honey on them.
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.
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.
[shrug] Not every legal system has the option of the Scots Verdict. (“Not proven,” or, “Not guilty and don’t do it again.”)
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.
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.
Exactly. Just a misdemeanor. I should think that would be a Felony.
My dad always used kerosine. Seriously.
California does have a provision where the courts can find someone “factually innocent” (California Penal Code 851.8).
Thanks! Since it was a California case I was thinking of that must have been it.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Ah, yes, the “big city” of Brisbane. 