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Prosecutors: DC trial can start without defendant
Associated Press ^ | Jul 22, 2013 5:59 PM EDT | Eric Tucker

Posted on 07/23/2013 6:15:12 AM PDT by Olog-hai

District of Columbia prosecutors say a German man charged with killing his elderly wife is forfeiting his right to be present for his own trial by engaging in lengthy hunger strikes, and a judge would be authorized to proceed without him.

Albrecht Muth is awaiting trial in the August 2011 strangulation and beating death of his 91-year-old wife Viola Drath, a fellow German expatriate and journalist, inside the couple’s Georgetown row home. His periodic bouts of starvation, and resulting physical weakness and hospital stays, have delayed court proceedings and exasperated the judge and lawyers on both sides. …

(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: albrechtmuth; habeascorpus; hungerstrike; murder

1 posted on 07/23/2013 6:15:12 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai
Haven't read the article, but if the wife is 91 two years ago ... can papa be very far behind?

And a court is actually going to perform a trial?

And if proven guilty he'll get what?

Life?

Death?

BOTH or imaginary filiments to this guy.

2 posted on 07/23/2013 6:19:32 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof, but they're true.)
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To: knarf

You realize that it would be a bad precedent for the law to effectively say that if you are old enough, you can bludgeon and strangle someone to death and get away with it.


3 posted on 07/23/2013 6:22:47 AM PDT by wideawake
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To: Olog-hai

What kind of 49 year old man marries a woman in her 90s? She must have been worth something.


4 posted on 07/23/2013 6:23:21 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
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To: knarf

Story says he is 49.


5 posted on 07/23/2013 6:24:00 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants
47 and 89 ??

God help us

I have nothing to say ... must drink more coffee

6 posted on 07/23/2013 6:28:50 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof, but they're true.)
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To: knarf

He is 49..........


7 posted on 07/23/2013 6:55:48 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk

49 now ... 2 yrs ago (date of death) .. he was 47 ... she 89


8 posted on 07/23/2013 7:08:26 AM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof, but they're true.)
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To: Olog-hai

Strikes me as an extremely bad precedent for trial “in absentia”, which is strictly forbidden by the U.S. constitution. This is a classic case of the camel’s nose under the tent.

The ruling is in absentia is ok because this person is rendering himself unavailable for trial on purpose. How is that different from fleeing to a country without a U.S. extradition treaty? It’s not. Next step? Trial in absentia for those who flee to a country without an extradition treaty.

The court can order medication so it should be able to order involuntary feeding. Strap the dude down and insert feeding tube. This would be a better solution than to gut the constitution.


9 posted on 07/23/2013 7:33:54 AM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: knarf
And if proven guilty he'll get what?

The judge wanted to five him five years, but he plea bargined it down to life.

10 posted on 07/23/2013 7:43:43 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Doing the same thing and expecting different results is called software engineering.)
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To: catnipman

You’re absolutely right. These prosecutors want to suspend habeas corpus at their own will.


11 posted on 07/23/2013 10:57:16 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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