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So, Jim, this jury I was on...

Started by Doktor Howl, April 15, 2010, 05:16:54 PM

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Doktor Howl

Quote from: Suu on April 15, 2010, 05:49:13 PM
That sucks, no witnesses as far as the intoxicated driver goes, huh?

None.  This was a classic example of horrible, horrible things happening to really good people for no reason whatsoever.
Molon Lube

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Richter on April 15, 2010, 05:49:46 PM
They did their job.  
Sucks for the family, but those officers weren't the ones who got drunk and drove over 100.

Cop:  110 MPH, not involved in accident.
Drunken Maniac:  97 MPH, no attempt to brake.

Personally, I suspect he wanted to kill himself, and chose a very selfish way to do it.
Molon Lube

Shibboleet The Annihilator

They could check his credit cards for recent transactions and inspect his car for receipts or other items from local bars in addition to canvassing the bars in the area with a photo of the man to determine where he came from. It's probably too late to do any of this though. If you can contact the woman maybe she can get her lawyer to subpoena this stuff.

Horrible story but unfortunately this shit happens all the time.

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Ten Ton Mantis on April 15, 2010, 05:51:36 PM
They could check his credit cards for recent transactions and inspect his car for receipts or other items from local bars in addition to canvassing the bars in the area with a photo of the man to determine where he came from. It's probably too late to do any of this though. If you can contact the woman maybe she can get her lawyer to subpoena this stuff.

Horrible story but unfortunately this shit happens all the time.

Yeah, and I had to sit on that jury.  I felt ill the whole time.
Molon Lube

BADGE OF HONOR

It's possible he was drinking at home.  Then what, sue the liquor store he got his booze from?
The Jerk On Bike rolled his eyes and tossed the waffle back over his shoulder--before it struck the ground, a stout, disconcertingly monkey-like dog sprang into the air and snatched it, and began to masticate it--literally--for the sound it made was like a homonculus squatting on the floor muttering "masticate masticate masticate".

Shibboleet The Annihilator

They could be charged, IIRC it's illegal for a store to sell alcohol to someone who is obviously drunk.

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Ten Ton Mantis on April 15, 2010, 06:23:21 PM
They could be charged, IIRC it's illegal for a store to sell alcohol to someone who is obviously drunk.

Supposing he was drunk when he bought it.
Molon Lube

LMNO

You know, this is showing me another angle why I don't like the death penalty.

What I mean to say is, if the guy lived, and was competent to stand trial, and was convicted, and (for whatever hypothetical) was executed, I would presume that the victim's family would have some sense of closure.

But the guy is dead.  It's like God saw the accident coming, said, "Guilty", and capped his ass. But I get the sense that the family still feels helpless, hopeless, and fucked.  So it's not the death that makes people feel better.  

But it has to be more than just the ritual of a trial.  

So, maybe it's making the perp realize and admit to his guilt, and to have to live with it.  I dunno.  I haven't come to a conclusion on this yet.


Dok, if the above is a threadjack, split it.

Doktor Howl

It's not a threadjack, but I disagree.  The ritual of the trial seems - to me - to be what they wanted.  To hear that the sole person at fault was the drunk, and that their daughter did nothing wrong, seemed to have an effect on the mother.  I am not sure of this, though.

When I heard the synopsis of the case at the beginning, I really, really wanted to get off that jury.  But you can't really do that, not if you spend all day laughing at complacent primates who want the benefits of civilization without having to perform the unpleasant, vitally necessary duties that make that civilization possible.  But now I feel rotten and depressed.
Molon Lube

P3nT4gR4m

This is why I'm kinda funny with the whole issue of criminal justice. Sometimes bad shit just happens and there really nothing you can do to fix it. Whether the guy had lived and gone to jail and eventually repented and set up a charity drop in center for homeless kids or whatever ... the woman is still brain damaged. Is there any way to make up for that? I'm not for a minute suggesting that had the driver lived there'd be no point in punishing him, I'm just not sure if it would make anything better.

I'm up to my arse in Brexit Numpties, but I want more.  Target-rich environments are the new sexy.
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walking the fine line line between genius and batshit fucking crazy

"computation is a pattern in the spacetime arrangement of particles, and it's not the particles but the pattern that really matters! Matter doesn't matter." -- Max Tegmark

Doktor Howl

Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on April 15, 2010, 06:52:31 PM
This is why I'm kinda funny with the whole issue of criminal justice. Sometimes bad shit just happens and there really nothing you can do to fix it. Whether the guy had lived and gone to jail and eventually repented and set up a charity drop in center for homeless kids or whatever ... the woman is still brain damaged. Is there any way to make up for that? I'm not for a minute suggesting that had the driver lived there'd be no point in punishing him, I'm just not sure if it would make anything better.

No, but there is a way to make sure she gets proper therapy so that she progresses rather than regresses. 

And the punishment isn't to make things right.  It's to punish a person for doing something wrong.  Whether it be rehabilitative or as a deterrent, there must be an accounting.  In this case, the criminal involved escaped by being crushed to death.
Molon Lube

Richter

Quote from: Eater of Clowns on May 22, 2015, 03:00:53 AM
Anyone ever think about how Richter inhabits the same reality as you and just scream and scream and scream, but in a good way?   :lulz:

Friendly Neighborhood Mentat

Doktor Howl

Quote from: Richter on April 15, 2010, 06:57:51 PM
Whole situation = "Well, Shit."

That's about it.  It's nice to know I still have a sense of outrage, though.
Molon Lube

P3nT4gR4m

I'm not sure I agree that being crushed to death is escaping but I'm pretty sure it's a personal opinion - I aint going to argue the toss. Just hope you don't lose too much sleep over the whole thing - sounds like a shit couple of days.

I'm up to my arse in Brexit Numpties, but I want more.  Target-rich environments are the new sexy.
Not actually a meat product.
Ass-Kicking & Foot-Stomping Ancient Master of SHIT FUCK FUCK FUCK
Awful and Bent Behemothic Results of Last Night's Painful Squat.
High Altitude Haggis-Filled Sex Bucket From Beyond Time and Space.
Internet Monkey Person of Filthy and Immoral Pygmy-Porn Wart Contagion
Octomom Auxillary Heat Exchanger Repairman
walking the fine line line between genius and batshit fucking crazy

"computation is a pattern in the spacetime arrangement of particles, and it's not the particles but the pattern that really matters! Matter doesn't matter." -- Max Tegmark

Doktor Howl

Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on April 15, 2010, 06:59:50 PM
I'm not sure I agree that being crushed to death is escaping but I'm pretty sure it's a personal opinion - I aint going to argue the toss. Just hope you don't lose too much sleep over the whole thing - sounds like a shit couple of days.

It was 6 days of tedious misery.  I haven't lost any sleep, but that may simply be because I bludgeon myself to sleep with drugs every night.
Molon Lube