bunnny

only 10 days apart

bingo

Happy birthday, baby!

happy birthday
rock it

did you know/have you heard the white stripes are doing walking with a ghost on some of their shows on the current tour? it sounds awesome

i hope thats enough to put a scare into anyone who's on the same path..... I bet they don't do anything for that woman.

Thank you for your concern, but no I did not. Though it is a very cold ride home at night, burrr!

Yes, the irony....Let your love ones know your wishes when you pass on....

We need to be real careful before we start asking blanket questions like, "how can our criminal justice system let this happen?" What many people (including myself) sometimes forget, is that we have a system of jurisprudence with a primary objective of protecting those wrongly accused rather than punishing the true perpetrators of any particular crime. Remember, this country was founded upon the rejection of a guilty until proven innocent system that was easily manipulated into a remarkable tool of persecution and prejudice.

As a necessary consequence of this system, the deck is stacked against "the People" or "the State." As you've seen a million times on T.V. or in the movies, the defendnat is innocent until proven guilty. And the quanity of proof that must be established? Proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

As a former prosecutor, I can attest to the fact that this is sometimes an insurmountable task---even when common sense dictates that the defendant is guilty. In fact, sexual assualt cases involving children are without a doubt the SINGLE HARDEST type of cases to prove.

Why? For one, they happen in the shadows. This isn't a lady getting her purse snatched on a busy street, or a liquor store manager getting held up on closed circuit t.v.. This is one victim and one defendant--no witnesses, no cameras, and, quite often, no proof other than the word of the victim. To make matters much worse, nine out of ten times children are awful witnesses--and I don't mean just in sex cases. Children make for horrible witnesses in even the least significant of cases that make it to a jury. Can you imagine what it would be like if you were eight years old in packed courtroom, a big judge in a black robe sitting in the next chair over, and some $400 an hour defense attorney screaming at you? Now imagine the same scenario if the case happened to involve someone sexually assaulting you and you had to intricately detail the parts of his anatomy that entered yours (and the manner in which it was done). You probably wouldn't have done too well, right? I know I wouldn't have.

You may also be wondering about physical evidence. It is very common for children to hide the incident from their parents, and by the time the crime is discovered any and all evidence is gone or completely contaminated.

What is the endgame of all this? Well, prosecutors are very often faced with a dilemma: Go to trial and risk losing (which means NO PUNISHMENT, and the defendant is unleashed into society with no means of checking up on him or inhibiting his conduct) or plead the case out and ensure some degree of punishment and some measure of lifetime monitoring. There really is no better way to do it.

Perhaps one thing that CAN be done is the recruiting of better prosecutors so we can take more risks and go to trial on these cases. Sadly, not unlike with teachers, society doesn't put its money where its mouth is. Although there are constant complaints about the quality of certain prosecutions, most prosecutors start at a salary that many of us could barely survive on (in 2001 I started at $38,500 living in NYC).

So, to come full circle, I'm not sure what happened with Jon Couley--but I'm confident that some of what I mentioned came into play in regard to his prior conviction.

I had to come back and add that I wasn't jumping on what you said. Rather, I was just trying to flesh things out a bit more.


[Edited on Mar 21, 2005 6:40PM]

You have no idea. We almost needed a special "Parking Garage Crimes Unit" at the Prosecutors Office.

SF = A+? Although that's relatively informative, perhaps you could elaborate?

What gym has a freakin' shark in it? The poor thing--born at the top of the food chain and ends up in the Cardio-Theater at an L.A. Fitness? I think a mercy killing may be in order.

BTW: I've hit up every other SG Member in L.A. with this question, but I think somehow you have escaped it--Can you recommend some of your favorite restaurants out here? I'm pretty close to Santa Monica, so any place you rec will probably be in my vicinity. It's coming up on 3 months since I got here, and I've only got two places I really like. One is in Santa Monica, actually. An Italian joint on Montana called "Spumoni." Very unassuming looking place, but great food and the portions could kill a small pony

We have Houston's back east. Same deal. Been to the one here in the Century City mall. Actually, one of the Houston's back east is in a mall as well. Riverside Square Mall in Paramus, NJ, of all places.

Saw True Romance in your profile. Dennis Hopper's pre-death monologue is one of my favorite all time scenes.

now if only he calls you a prick tease in middle of the class...i think in this case that would be a compliment!

Report Writer & Copy Writer seem more interesting than destroying a poor guy's life over a dime bag.

Well, we need those TPS reports right away. I think we're gonna have to ask you to come on in on Saturday...

You know, I watched Napoleon Dynamite on one of the worst days of my life. I need to punch it up again now that I'm in better spirits. Ironically enough, my favorite animal is also the Liger.

Oddly enough....I was absolutely berated today by a friend for having a mix in my car of exclusively Tegan & Sara and Lionel Richie. I was patting myself on the back for my brilliant juxtaposition, but now...regretfully, I'm just emasculated.

there aint a damn thing wrong with lionel richie. feel pitty for your friend.

I want a brand new lover

Happy B-Day!

Happy Birthday cutie :-)