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Darkfeather -> RE: At what point does deviant sexual mental fantasy become criminal? (3/12/2013 3:54:56 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: muhly22222
quote:
ORIGINAL: Darkfeather
When did this country become the place where innocent until proven guilty became, crime prevention?? As his defense attorney tried to point out over and over, all that he was guilty of was fantasizing, and yes perhaps pushing the boundaries on that a bit too far. But YES, we should absolutely wait until he actually acts on them. We should never become the society who convicts someone before they actually commits a crime, just because that crime may have serious ramifications. Why, because what happens if the person in question, oh I don't know, at the last minute decided NOT to do that crime. You know, human will, choice, etc. If you put that guy in jail before he committed that act, he did not get the chance to make the choice. You essentially made that for him. This, and this alone, is why watching him and waiting was warranted. Letting him make the choice himself.
If I was his defense attorney, I would make the same arguments. They're the best ones out there, and really, the appeal will be an interesting one from a legal standpoint. I imagine they're going to challenge the definition of conspiracy as applied to his case, and the exact facts of his case make that particular issue intriguing.
But you're missing the point...he did commit a crime. He committed the crime of conspiracy to kidnap. Kidnapping is one crime, conspiracy to do so is a separate crime. The crime of conspiracy to kidnap requires that he and at least one other person make plans to commit an illegal act, and that they take an overt action in furtherance of that illegal act. The overt action can be one that would generally be considered legal (such as buying the rope that he may have planned to tie up his victims with), or it can be illegal (such as accessing a police database).
The defense challenged the requirement that he have planned anything, and the jury didn't buy it.
He committed at best, misdemeanors. Punishable by what, a few years in jail. No D.A. in the country would have brought those charges to the grand jury, let alone court, lest waste tax payer money one that. Conspiracy to kidnap?? Do you know what that was, he chatted with females over the internet and had planned to meet with them, that's it. Planned to meet at some future date with females he only knew over the internet, that was the conspiracy. The fact that he may or may not have committed crimes are trivial technicalities, which on their own would be laughed out of any court in the land. The only reason he was "convicted" of the crime, and sentenced to life, was the fact that his jury was subjected to the websites he visited. Cannibal websites. They were showed images of graphic, bloody images that he viewed. These, even at the objection of his attorney, so prejudiced them against him, that they convicted him simply on his kink.
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