Posted on 03/02/2007 1:03:42 PM PST by SmithL
Let's hope that there are at least a few that will hang the jury rather than convict. I'm flabberghasted that they have been deliberating this long. Obviously there are some on this jury that want to convict.
If he is convicted, Bush should pardon him IMMEDIATELY, but I doubt he will.
By a common-language definition of the term "doubt", something that is clearly most likely true could be seen as being beyond a reasonable doubt. Legally the term "reasonable doubt" means something more specific, but my point was that common-language definitions of words often don't quite match their legal meanings.
A confused and frustrated jury is more likely to throw its hands up in the air and acquit, in my opinion.
Fine, say there were a number people who saw the car, one of whom caught (or thought he caught) the whole license plate and some of whom saw the first few characters. Further suppose that some of the witnesses heard the voice of a screaming child coming from the car. In short, assume that the prosecutor has established absolutely that a car resembling the defendant's, with a license plate at least close to the defendant's, was used by the abductor.
Also I believe the defense would have to prove a link to some other car. Otherwise it is speculation. I don't believe they could introduce other evidence without showing a link.
That's my understanding too. I would suggest, though, that if the facts of the case were as described, the facts that a car whose appearance and license plate were close to those of the defendants' was found in a lake, and that said car belonged to a convicted child molester, would explain how witnesses could have seen a car similar to the defendant's without the defendant having committed the crime and would thus provide a basis for reasonable doubt.
True, the suggestion that the child molester had committed the crime would be speculation, but the defense is supposed to only have to show that it's possible someone else committed the crime, and that the evidence presented in court is not inconsistent with such a theory.
To be sure, the defense shouldn't just be able to spring such evidence on the prosecutor at trial; the prosecutor must be allowed to seek out evidence to contradict any such alternate theory (e.g. if the child molester in question was in fact in jail at the time of the abduction, that would undermine the theory that he had committed the crime). Sometimes, though, judges will go further and effectively prevent defendants from even raising the issue of other people who might have committed the crime in such fashion as to be consistent with the evidence in court; to me that just seems wrong.
That depends on the meaning of the word doubt; depending upon context it can either mean something is uncertain, or that it is unlikely.
For example, if someone was asked if he thought it would rain and he estimated the probability at 60%, a response of "I doubt it" would be a highly unusual usage of the term, to put it mildly. Likewise if someone described as "doubtful" a project that had a 60% chance of success.
Although people using terms such as "likely", "doubtful", etc. often don't compute probabilities, I would expect that in common usage something would only be described as "doubtful" if the probability was in the range of 1%-40%: unlikely to happen, but not totally shocking if it does. As a verb, I would suggest "doubt" often conveys a similar degree of unlikelihood.
As a noun, the word may sometimes connote more uncertainty than unlikelihood, but that depends a lot on context. I don't think it's obvious linguistically that something that is "beyond a reasonable doubt" would mean more than that no reasonable person could consider it unlikely. Obviously in a legal sense it must mean more, but I don't think the meanings of "reasonable" and "doubt" make that clear.
Hollywood takes lessons from the Treason Media when it comes to fiction.
You are spectacular.
When I read your words why do I hear Willy and Toby?
(Justice is the one thing you should always find.... You've got to saddle up your boys. You've got to draw a hard line....)
Way to hang tough and get er done.
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