“And if the prosecutor ever, EVER, pulled another stunt like that, I wouldn’t care if he was prosecuting John Wilkes Booth, I would dismiss the case.”
Sanction the shark, yes. But, when you want to see a case of treason and aiding the enemy be dismissed on anything other than the facts - NO!
Perhaps more sleep might improve your perspective.
Your above quoted line seems to indicate you are less concerned with the facts of a case of known violent enemies of America than you are with possible prosecutorial misconduct.
As Islam is antithetical to, and irreconcilable with, America and the Constitution, any and all a Moslims in America are thus walking, talking, treason.
Islam Delenda Est.
You missed my point entirely, though you cited it.
“And if the prosecutor ever, EVER, pulled another stunt like that, I wouldn’t care if he was prosecuting John Wilkes Booth, I would dismiss the case.”
This doesn’t mean the current case. This means future cases.
My concern is not for the current case, but for a downright evil erosion that has happened and is happening in criminal courts around the US, that is screwing us all up, not just terrorists.
Trying the case in the press, and trying to prejudice juries is just the tip of the iceberg of these bad practices.
It usually begins with the arrest itself. Far too often, when the police arrest someone, it isn’t a perfect “slam dunk” for a conviction, so they are tempted to fudge the evidence, so someone they *think* is guilty will be convicted. Far too often, this results in lying under oath.
Then prosecutors have huge discretion. One young man I knew gently slapped a stripper on the backside. Because he was a big tipper and cute, she turned around, giggled and smiled at him. But the undercover cop behind him arrested him for sexual assault.
He faced in rapid succession four prosecutors. One wanted him to serve 5 years in prison and lifetime sex offender status. The next wanted only 1 year and status. The third was willing to go for probation, but still wanted status. The fourth said, “this is nonsense” and dropped the case.
Then there is the horrific plea bargain and sentencing abuse. “If you plead guilty, you’ll serve two years and probation. If you plead not guilty and are convicted, you will get the max of 25 years to life.” Is that a choice, especially if you are innocent?
Then if someone insists they are not guilty, but are convicted, the judge and the prosecutor want to sleep at night feeling that they didn’t convict an honest man, so try a sentencing deal. “If you continue to say you are innocent, you will get the maximum sentence, but if you admit your guilt, you will get a lesser sentence, but lose your right to appeal.”
That is just wrong. If someone commits a crime, they should get a given punishment, no matter if they admit to it or not. And they shouldn’t lose their appellate rights out of fear, because a successful appeal demonstrates a failure in the trial court process, and is far more important than an individual case.
Other major problems are “hired gun” expert witnesses, who if paid to, will testify that night is day and down is up, without any scientific basis.
And juries are aggravating in their own right. Often the entire jury will be dismissed if it is “tainted” by a juror mentioning “jury nullification”, which is their right and responsibility, because the judge and prosecutor do not want them to be aware of it.
Court cases are overturned if jurors consult the Bible, but it is legal for them to decide guilt or innocence by coin toss.
So the bottom line is that, while these defendants are likely guilty, we are all harmed if the process of trying them is abused. It doesn’t matter if it is the prosecutor or defense attorney who is trying the case in the newspapers, or trying to tamper with prospective juries.
And it isn’t even their case where it matters most, but subsequent cases, where police and prosecutors come forward and say, “We have arrested a guilty suspect, which is clearly shown in the evidence, and will get them convicted unless the defense uses some sneaky trick or the judge is a weakling.”