peabody85: thanks much for attending the meeting and reporting on the happenings there!
Mr Hieb of the Sweet Pea: thank you very much as well, not only for attending, but especially for your great courage in speaking so boldly to this power-mad prosecutor and condemning his absurdly draconian sentence. The Sweet Pea alone is totally blameless in this whole incident and yet is suffering from the unconscionable obstinancy of the ADA almost as much as the young men in jail.
Thanks also to "outoftowner" for your responding so tirelessly to the few tiresome trolls who would have monopolized this forum with their angry rants except for your efforts.
And thanks to Billy Kidd (if I'm right about your identity) for weighing in on the side of common sense and lending some celebrity to the cause.
Finally, an appeal to the DA, Ms Roesink: Please review all the evidence and the facts in this case, and judge for yourself whether six months in jail does not indeed constitute an excessive sentence that runs counter not only to justice but also to the interest of the community you serve. I hope you will consider meeting the young men so that you can gauge their character for yourself. And I pray that ultimately you will have the courage to match your power to correct this unfortunate error.
Hi again 379664. Well you threw me for a loop by not calling for executions. Since you say you're also opposed to jail time, I'll meet you halfway, and concede that one might substitute "dumb" for "lapse of judgment". I never asked him specifically why they didn't go elsewhere; when he gets out in six months, I surely will. But IIRC the stores were all closed, they're vegetarians (of course; they'd never eat a Happy Meal, free or otherwise), and the fruit was sitting right there on top of the trash... sure, it was dumb. A felony charge and six month jail sentence is a whole lot dumber.
Hi 379664. No, it's not his habit. As has been said (and you have already mocked), it was a lapse of judgment, and he is eager to atone. He hoped to do community service or to work for the Sweet Pea owners, if they were willing, to pay back his injury to them. And as I have seen firsthand, he works hard. But where is the proportion and the sense in threatening a felony for this small transgression, then offering only a plea to six months of jail? I suspect that these two have been singled out for extreme punishment because of resentment in the community against the Rainbow folks generally. Besides being unfair, that won't do anything to compensate the owners, who were actually trespassed against, who have strongly criticized the ADA, and who ironically as taxpayers now will have to help foot the bill for the jail time which they oppose. However, I'm sure we'll hear from you again, probably to demand that the pair be executed to save that taxpayer expense, or to send a strong message to Osama bin Laden that we won't accept the Twinkie Defense, or something like that.
I have known one of the men (Giles Charle) for many years, and can personally attest to his upstanding character. In fact, just before returning to Steamboat to deal with the legal charges, he worked for me and his aunt at our house for two days, busting his hump from sunup to sundown, doing every odious chore that I've avoided for the past year: turning the compost piles, digging up and replanting the strawberries, hauling a cord of logs to the woodpile, etc etc. Just to make a few bucks to defray some of his legal expenses!
During his visit, Giles was obviously very concerned about the legal charges against him in Steamboat. Like his own attorney, my cousin (who's also an attorney) strongly advised him to plead to a misdemeanor to avoid any possibility of a felony conviction. Among other consequences, someone with a felony conviction is denied the right to vote in many states, and a big reason why Giles took the misdemeanor plea was to avoid being disenfranchised for life.
I am very proud of Giles for facing six months in your county jail on this absurdly trumped-up charge in part to safeguard his fundamental right to participate in our democracy.
For my part, I wonder whether there is a wider connection between this one action by the crusading Mr St James, seeking felony convictions for taking spoiled fruit from a trash can, and our current national reality, where those controlling our government attempt to intimidate and even disenfranchise their political opponents whenever and however they can.
Story ripe for the picking
peabody85: thanks much for attending the meeting and reporting on the happenings there!
Mr Hieb of the Sweet Pea: thank you very much as well, not only for attending, but especially for your great courage in speaking so boldly to this power-mad prosecutor and condemning his absurdly draconian sentence. The Sweet Pea alone is totally blameless in this whole incident and yet is suffering from the unconscionable obstinancy of the ADA almost as much as the young men in jail.
Thanks also to "outoftowner" for your responding so tirelessly to the few tiresome trolls who would have monopolized this forum with their angry rants except for your efforts.
And thanks to Billy Kidd (if I'm right about your identity) for weighing in on the side of common sense and lending some celebrity to the cause.
Finally, an appeal to the DA, Ms Roesink: Please review all the evidence and the facts in this case, and judge for yourself whether six months in jail does not indeed constitute an excessive sentence that runs counter not only to justice but also to the interest of the community you serve. I hope you will consider meeting the young men so that you can gauge their character for yourself. And I pray that ultimately you will have the courage to match your power to correct this unfortunate error.
September 5, 2006 at 2:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Sweet Pea owners: 'We didn't want this'
Hi again 379664. Well you threw me for a loop by not calling for executions. Since you say you're also opposed to jail time, I'll meet you halfway, and concede that one might substitute "dumb" for "lapse of judgment". I never asked him specifically why they didn't go elsewhere; when he gets out in six months, I surely will. But IIRC the stores were all closed, they're vegetarians (of course; they'd never eat a Happy Meal, free or otherwise), and the fruit was sitting right there on top of the trash... sure, it was dumb. A felony charge and six month jail sentence is a whole lot dumber.
September 3, 2006 at 1:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Sweet Pea owners: 'We didn't want this'
Hi 379664.
No, it's not his habit. As has been said (and you have already mocked), it was a lapse of judgment, and he is eager to atone. He hoped to do community service or to work for the Sweet Pea owners, if they were willing, to pay back his injury to them. And as I have seen firsthand, he works hard. But where is the proportion and the sense in threatening a felony for this small transgression, then offering only a plea to six months of jail? I suspect that these two have been singled out for extreme punishment because of resentment in the community against the Rainbow folks generally. Besides being unfair, that won't do anything to compensate the owners, who were actually trespassed against, who have strongly criticized the ADA, and who ironically as taxpayers now will have to help foot the bill for the jail time which they oppose. However, I'm sure we'll hear from you again, probably to demand that the pair be executed to save that taxpayer expense, or to send a strong message to Osama bin Laden that we won't accept the Twinkie Defense, or something like that.
September 3, 2006 at 1:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Sweet Pea owners: 'We didn't want this'
I have known one of the men (Giles Charle) for many years, and can personally attest to his upstanding character. In fact, just before returning to Steamboat to deal with the legal charges, he worked for me and his aunt at our house for two days, busting his hump from sunup to sundown, doing every odious chore that I've avoided for the past year: turning the compost piles, digging up and replanting the strawberries, hauling a cord of logs to the woodpile, etc etc. Just to make a few bucks to defray some of his legal expenses!
During his visit, Giles was obviously very concerned about the legal charges against him in Steamboat. Like his own attorney, my cousin (who's also an attorney) strongly advised him to plead to a misdemeanor to avoid any possibility of a felony conviction. Among other consequences, someone with a felony conviction is denied the right to vote in many states, and a big reason why Giles took the misdemeanor plea was to avoid being disenfranchised for life.
I am very proud of Giles for facing six months in your county jail on this absurdly trumped-up charge in part to safeguard his fundamental right to participate in our democracy.
For my part, I wonder whether there is a wider connection between this one action by the crusading Mr St James, seeking felony convictions for taking spoiled fruit from a trash can, and our current national reality, where those controlling our government attempt to intimidate and even disenfranchise their political opponents whenever and however they can.
September 3, 2006 at 12:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )