OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players

OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - Printable Version

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OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - fullmetal - 06-20-2016

Quote:"I want to emphasize once again that the main reason I'm doing this is that I refuse to ruin the lives of two young men who have spent their adolescence and teenage years, working and sweating, while we were all in the air conditioning," district attorney Jerry Jones told KNOE-TV.

According to the police report, an officer approached the players' vehicle at a park that was closed and smelled marijuana. The report alleges that a bag of marijuana and a handgun were in plain sight, and a stolen handgun was found under the passenger seat.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/16367546/district-attorney-declines-prosecute-arrested-alabama-crimson-tide-players-cam-robinson-laurence-jones

From the source article:

Quote:Jerry Jones cited insufficient evidence in proving who was in possession of the gun and the drugs, thus, he is dropping the charges.

Jones says, "I want to emphasize once again that the main reason I'm doing this is that I refuse to ruin the lives of two young men who have spent their adolescence and teenage years, working and sweating, while we were all in the air conditioning."

http://www.knoe.com/content/news/Charges-against-University-of-Alabama-football-players-dropped-383654561.html

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - dabigv13 - 06-20-2016

Pretty stupidly articulated, and you have to wonder if this guy would give two similar folks (by which I mean black young men) who werent football players the same treatment.

Still, harsh prosecution for marijuana offenses does not serve society. We know that black people are 4 times (pretty sure that's the number) more likely to be prosecuted, though rates of usage are identical.

Can't speak to the stolen handgun issue though.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - fullmetal - 06-21-2016

Yeah I'm really wondering about the handgun--Louisiana's had enough issues with those and football players lately.

But I'm not sure I like the idea of "drop charges cause these kids play good football" becoming a thing in the southeast.Â It's small stuff right now--but when it gets to, say, assault, etc.?

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - burger - 06-21-2016

Maybe it's time for DA's to be blinded from knowing the identities of suspects when deciding whether or not to press charges--at least in college towns if not everywhere.Â All you really need to know is age, sex, and past criminal history, right?Â

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - ThePassionOfTheChryst - 06-21-2016

(06-21-2016, 10:15 AM)burger link Wrote:Maybe it's time for DA's to be blinded from knowing the identities of suspects when deciding whether or not to press charges--at least in college towns if not everywhere.Â All you really need to know is age, sex, and past criminal history, right?

Pardon my ignorance, but if identity is unimportant, why would sex be relevant?

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - stupac2 - 06-21-2016

(06-21-2016, 08:00 PM)ThePOC link Wrote:[quote author=burger link=topic=15218.msg165320#msg165320 date=1466529322]
Maybe it's time for DA's to be blinded from knowing the identities of suspects when deciding whether or not to press charges--at least in college towns if not everywhere.Â All you really need to know is age, sex, and past criminal history, right?

Pardon my ignorance, but if identity is unimportant, why would sex be relevant?
[/quote]

Men are way more likely to commit crimes, I assume is what he's thinking.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - ThePassionOfTheChryst - 06-21-2016

(06-21-2016, 08:01 PM)stupac2 link Wrote:[quote author=ThePOC link=topic=15218.msg165352#msg165352 date=1466564414]
[quote author=burger link=topic=15218.msg165320#msg165320 date=1466529322]
Maybe it's time for DA's to be blinded from knowing the identities of suspects when deciding whether or not to press charges--at least in college towns if not everywhere.Â All you really need to know is age, sex, and past criminal history, right?

Pardon my ignorance, but if identity is unimportant, why would sex be relevant?
[/quote]

Men are way more likely to commit crimes, I assume is what he's thinking.
[/quote]

I'll take your word for that, but that factoid seems irrelevant to me if the DA is considering whether to bring charges for a crime that may already have been committed.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - stupac2 - 06-22-2016

(06-21-2016, 08:02 PM)ThePOC link Wrote:I'll take your word for that, but that factoid seems irrelevant to me if the DA is considering whether to bring charges for a crime that may already have been committed.

I can only guess that it makes it less likely that the crime was an aberration, but I'm not sure if that really matters in terms of pressing charges.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - fullmetal - 06-22-2016

burger may be noting that age, sex, and criminal history are as irrelevant to the evidence as college athletic pursuits, wealth, or political/cultural clout.

Such things do make it easier to show a motive in a jury case though...when it comes to possession of a stolen handgun, that's pretty open and shut.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - burger - 06-22-2016

Maybe sex and age aren't relevant.Â Obviously, I wasn't making a well-reasoned legal argument.Â I'm just sick of local DAs letting football players (and rich people and well-connected people and yadda yadda) off the hook without even filing charges.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - martyup - 06-22-2016

It will be interesting to see what coach Saban does to punish these players.Â Too lenient and he may lose control of his team.Â Too harsh and he may lose control of his team.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - fishman - 06-22-2016

Though I have little doubt that the DA gave them a pass based largely on the fact that they were Bama football players - he admitted as much by referring to them "working and sweating" - but he may actually have had a better reason for not pursuing the possession of a stolen gun charge.Â Two guys in a car with a stolen gun - which guy possesses the gun?Â I don't know the state law there, but unless it presumes that the owner of the car "possesses" everything in it, proving who possessed the gun could be a tough chore.Â What if there were five guys in the car - whose gun is it then?

In the case at Stanford, giving a lenient sentence because the kid was an excellent student, and high achiever would mean that virtually all Stanford students should be treated with leniency.Â I don't think that's the kind of evenhanded justice the judge should be striving for.Â

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - fullmetal - 06-23-2016

I'm pretty sure they'd figure out who possessed it--this is neither the first nor last time in American history that a stolen weapon has been found in a car with multiple people.

I'm not fond of the precedent set that $EC players get off scot free--literally--because they're $EC football players.Â I mean, you'da thought that the Louisiana folks would be champing at the bit to ding Bama...but these are hometown kids playing for Bama.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - Hurlburt88 - 06-23-2016

Pining for this concept

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - CowboyIndian - 06-23-2016

(06-23-2016, 02:18 PM)hurlburt88 link Wrote:Pining for this concept

There is no justice....only law.

Re: OT: Louisiana DA declines to prosecute Bama players - ChicagoCard - 09-30-2016

Resurrecting this thread, Alabama defensive tackle Tim Williams was arrested on gun charges...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/09/29/alabama-star-linebacker-tim-williams-arrested-on-gun-charge/