That's because I look like this:
Posted on 05/08/2005 7:04:09 AM PDT by Nachum
FRAMINGHAM -- Two Framingham High seniors arrested in January after they were ordered off high school property because they were building a snow fort were found guilty yesterday of trespassing.
Jenna Schroeder and Jason Osorio, both 18, now face a maximum of 30 days in jail after the two-day trial in Framingham District Court. The jury of three men and three women deliberated for about three hours before they reached a verdict.
Judge Douglas Stoddart will sentence the pair May 16. Although punishable by a maximum of 30 days in jail, according to Massachusetts General Law, an offender can also face a fine less than $100 and probation.
Neither Schroeder nor Osorio commented after the trial. Schroeder's attorney, Michael J. Heineman, also declined to comment. Osorio's lawyer, Melvin Norris, was not present during the verdict due to a hearing in federal court in Boston.
The pair were arrested Jan. 25 when police ordered them to leave the high school grounds while they were building a fort in a large pile of snow. The school was closed for the day due to the weather.
The teens claimed they were about to leave when they were arrested. Police said the pair were uncooperative and refused to leave after repeated requests.
During closing statements, both defense attorneys tried to convince the jury the arrests stemmed from the arresting officer, James Smith, getting angry at the "smart ass" teens.
Prosecutor Deb Bercovitch argued it was a clear-cut case -- two people told to leave the property who did not, so they were arrested.
Heineman questioned Smith's truthfulness in his closing statement.
"His credibility is something I'm going to ask you to look closely at," said Heineman. "Officer Smith tells a story that doesn't add up -- that doesn't make sense."
Heineman said Smith originally put a third teen, Edwin Snead, in his cruiser, but never arrested him. The lawyer said Smith grew angry at Schroeder when she asked first why Snead was put in the cruiser, and then asked for his name and badge number.
"Officer Smith never gave a reason -- why didn't he give a reason?" said Heineman. "Because being a smart ass is not a good answer. The evidence shows that Officer Smith was trying to bully and scare these kids."
He said Schroeder, Osorio and Snead were just having a fun day, building a snow fort in the large pile of snow. He said Schroeder's questioning of Smith led to the arrest.
"I would suggest the only crime Jenna broke that day, if it's a crime, is she stood up and asked a police officer his name and badge number," said Heineman. "She didn't cower. She didn't flee. She stood up for a friend. I would suggest the world needs more people like Jenna."
Norris, representing Osorio, said Smith had no right to arrest his client.
"Jason is a student at Framingham High School. Jason was at the Framingham High School. Jason had every right to be at the Framingham High School," Norris said. "The teenagers in this case are telling the truth about the facts of the case.
"Why would an officer exaggerate what happened," Norris continued. "Like all of us, he has a job. Everyone wants to be promoted, wants to get ahead."
"Officer Smith was there on behalf of the town of Framingham and the ground department of the public schools," said Bercovitch. "He (Smith) told you he begged and pleaded for them to leave for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, he was fed up. There's no argument, he was fed up, but is it reasonable to believe that it was just in the last minute he asked them to leave. I would suggest it was not."
Not only was Smith frustrated, Bercovitch said, but so were the defendants, who would not leave.
"That's all this case is about," she said. "Officer Smith has the authority to ask them to leave, he asked them to leave, they didn't leave, and he arrested them."
Also yesterday, both Schroeder and Osorio testified, while Smith was called as a rebuttal witness twice. Smith, Officer Benedetto Ottaviani, Torti and Snead were among those who testified Monday.
Schroeder testified that she was heading to her car when Smith arrested her. She said she even had her keys out ready to drive off.
"Officer Smith said, 'That's it,' and he threw me against the car," said Schroeder. "He yelled at me and said grow up."
Bercovitch asked Schroeder if she was mad when everything was happening, but she said she was more shocked and scared than angry. Bercovitch asked Schroeder why she did not call for help.
"You were scared? You didn't leave, did you? Did you call Edwin's mother? Did you call your mother? Did you call Jason's mother?" asked Bercovitch. "You were scared, but you went up to Officer Smith and questioned him?"
Schroeder said she was worried for Snead, who was later released from the cruiser and left before the arrests, and upset that Smith would not answer her questions.
At one point, Bercovitch looked at Schroeder's key chain and pointed out one that said "Property of Princess."
"Do you consider yourself a princess? Were you upset how he was treating you?" Bercovitch asked. The judge did not allow an answer to either question.
Later in the trial, Osorio said he was never told by anyone he should leave the snow fort before Smith came. He said he had heard someone had stopped and spoke to Snead, but he was not involved in the conversation.
Later, Osorio said he heard Smith berating Snead.
"I heard Officer Smith ask Edwin his name and where he lived," said Osorio. "I heard him ask if he (Snead) was a wise ass or trying to be smart by what he was doing at the snow mound."
I remember going to the school yard for the snow BECAUSE the school was closed.
Either this jury is ILLITERATES or there is more to the story.
I am talking about the knee jerk reactions from many here on this forum who think that homeschooling is the be all and end all of all societies problems. The people who scream that any time a teacher tries to instill some discipline that teacher is a public school Nazi and my darling little child would never do such a thing, and how dare they yell at my kid.
Nonsense. Prison is for felons (those who have crimes punishable by more than a year of incarceration). Jail is for misdemeanants (and are usually county-oriented).
But this reporter is milking the sympathy factor for all he can get, and Freepers are falling for it. Of course they face 30 days -- and they will NEVER get that. Crimes have punishments, and the punishments have ranges. He's quoting the possible -- but absolutely unlikely -- to garner sympathy. This guy is playin' y'all like a violin.
That's because I look like this:
So you've ingnored the main point here, and are for enabling petty tyrants. Noted.
Now that I agree wholeheartedly with.
Sorry to come down on you a little too hard.
So let's get rid of all policemen. At 17 and 18 years old they should know better than to tick off the cops. I doubt that the cop would really arrest the kids unless they really were mouthing off.
She looks like a two-bit hooker...or a pop star. Same thing.
However, not all home schoolers are conservative. My cousin is a nut bag liberal, and her boys at 13 and 11 look like 9 year old girls. She allows them to study what they want, and doesn't seem to work too hard at teaching them about life (most likely because her parents were very forgiving about her actions). My best friends sister in law also home schools her kids. She weighs about 400 pounds, and I think she only home schools so she doesn't have to get up early in the morning to get the kids ready for school. The kids are dumb as posts and little tyrants who won't behave for anyone.
My point is most people are either not capable, or willing to put in the hard work necessary to ensure that home schooling works.
Also, from dealing with people at work, and listening to stories from my sister who teaches swimming lessons, if everyone home schooled this nation would be in big trouble. One woman was always complaining about the teachers who would get her monster child in trouble. How they would send him to the office for clowning around in class, and how he would get detentions for this or that. I heard her yelling at the principal about these punishments. She never disciplined him at home and now guess what, he dropped out of school and got his 15 year old girlfriend pregnant. He can't hold a job, despite his mom setting him up with friends and neighbors who own restaurants, shops lawn services etc. I doubt he would have done better with home schooling.
So god bless the people who can home school effectively, but I don't think that everyone can or should do it.
I wonder what public property is anymore.
This "Peter Principle" icon looks to be "Principal Peter."
I smell ozone...
Anybody can send there kids off to school, and let someone else teach them. But it takes real effort and determination to CORRECTLY homeschool children.
The jaw drops. Have we REALLY become this mindless that it is ok to arrest kids for making a snow fort or suspend kids for talking to their mothers serving in the armed forces in Iraq!!??
Is this REALLY what we have become??
Where are those on this forum that claim moral superiority to Europe? This suggests that we are anything BUT morally superior!!
Needless to say, I am just a tad bit disgusted at the behavior of those in charge.
It appears that you graduated from the Sean Hannity school of grammar.
A friend of mine is a PI. He's told me on several occasions that a lot of cops are just stupid thugs. Personally, I have not seen this to be true. But what do I know about law enforcement.
Ah, a grammar and spelling enforcer. Looks like we got another "Barney Fife".
Another example of people (the cops) that don't understand the concept of the state existing to serve the public and not the other way around.
We had a revolution over stuff like this.
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