Mansfield woman free after drug conviction based on lies (DEA Agent in Hot Water?)

Worst possible case a judge could toss a lunatic jury verdict and the judge in this one had to do that, but the instructions to the jury were obviously not right in this one to start with. There simply can’t be a rational basis for sending anybody to prison on such a he-said/they-said basis with no other evidence and particularly when the accused has no criminal background. This one was inexcusable.

In the real world people get convicted everyday with nothing but “he-said/they-said” evidence. Usually the accusers are telling the truth. Sometimes they aren’t telling the truth. The triar of fact, whether it be a jury or a judge, makes the determination about whether the accusers are being truthful or not. If the accuser is a cop, generally the cop will be believed. He’s got a badge. He’s supposed to be one of the good guys.

I think most cops are good guys. I am very leery of narcotics officers though. Those people spend their time pretending to be people they are not, befriending people and then stabbing them in the back. When they aren’t being spies and telling lies, they are coercing drug addicts into being their snitches or their confidential informants, threatening to send them to prison, telling them they’re going to get raped while they’re there, etc. I don’t know what it is that attracts someone to that type of job, but it seems that quite a few creepy people do find that line of work appealing. They get to be spies, bullies, and they have very little oversight. They can make a fortune in bribe money if they want too. They can get all the free drugs they want. They can coerce pretty suspects into having sex with them and these victims will never tell because no one will believe them and because if they do say anything they’ll probably go to prison for their involvement with drugs. It’s a perfect job for a creepy predator and unfortunately I think a lot of creepy predators figure this out and become narcotics officers. I’ve worked in the criminal justice system for a lot of years, both as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, and I’ve come to know a lot of law enforcement officers. I like and respect most of them but I can say that about precious few of the narcs I’ve had dealings with. A lot of them are worse than the people they are going after.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.