While I personally can't believe he is not guilty, that is my luxury for not being on the jury... I don't think that they proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it.
In general I really wish jurors would have a higher bar for proof of guilt, we have too many innocent people behind bars (most of whom are people of color. Funny that.)
On the other hand, when your lawyers defense is to show that you have always been weird and an incredible asshole, so it doesn't follow that being a weird asshole is a sign of guilt, you should probably be put away for the sake of the rest of the world anyway.
I realize that there are some problematic aspects to his conviction, and I was not on the jury, but I felt the circumstantial evidence was strong enough, even outside of his apparently despicable personality.
Agreed, (Dude, really, who throws away their car seat for no good reason?) but I have to give the potential bad precedence (or affirmation of bad precedence) a nod.
I have this same ambivalence every time a skeezy conservative Republican Congressman gets busted for soliciting sex. Yay for outing a hypocrite, boo for toe-tapping while looking gay being actionable.
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 12:34 am (UTC)While I personally can't believe he is not guilty, that is my luxury for not being on the jury... I don't think that they proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he did it.
In general I really wish jurors would have a higher bar for proof of guilt, we have too many innocent people behind bars (most of whom are people of color. Funny that.)
On the other hand, when your lawyers defense is to show that you have always been weird and an incredible asshole, so it doesn't follow that being a weird asshole is a sign of guilt, you should probably be put away for the sake of the rest of the world anyway.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 01:02 am (UTC)I have this same ambivalence every time a skeezy conservative Republican Congressman gets busted for soliciting sex. Yay for outing a hypocrite, boo for toe-tapping while looking gay being actionable.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-29 04:17 pm (UTC)Too bad there couldn't be a MODICUM of justice in the Bell case....the past week or so has made me want to emigrate from the planet.