Binky .357 wrote:
Good point.
I guess I lost sight of the fact that he was convicted in the light of what he'd done.
It is good to see the system work when it catches the bad guys.
Yup. There's far too many cases of cops committing crimes when they don't get convicted.
And, honest, some of that is unavoidable, and entirely proper: when the state hauls anybody into court, whether it's Martin Luther King on one hand, or Ernesto Miranda, Jeffrey Dahmer or Landen Beard on the other, that guy is entitled to a vigorous, competent defense, and the state must prove every element of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
If the state fails, the accused should walk.
In the Ramsey County deputies case, if the "it was a prank, pinky swear" defense persuades the jurors that there's reasonable doubt about the thievery, the two should walk.
That's fine.
What bothers me is how often things that should get that far are swept under the rug.
