What about Cousin Vinny?
Posted on 10/31/2013 2:51:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
When convicted arsonist Lawrence Ahrens Jr. began his sentencing hearing last week, he must have known that his best shot at avoiding a long prison stint was to make a good impression on the judge. So it’s hard to understand why, as Paul Nelson at the Albany Times Union reported, Ahrens “strolled into court with a white short-sleeve T-shirt with ‘Snitches Get Stitches’ splashed across the back in bold letters.” The shirt’s obverse was just as inappropriate: It featured a big red stop sign above the word “Snitching.” Stop Snitching—get it? Nelson notes that Ahrens “apparently wanted to make a statement” with his daring attire, but, from where I’m sitting, the only statement he made was “I have bad judgment.” The judge made Ahrens remove the shirt, and then sentenced him to 15 years in prison, where his shirts will be chosen for him.
Now, the First Amendment generally protects your right to express yourself through your apparel, and if I were a judge, I’d like to think I wouldn’t get upset about other people’s clothing choices. But some judges take courtroom decorum very, very seriously, and if you’re coming to court for whatever reason, you need to realize that. The record is filled with tales of defendants, jurors, and spectators who have scandalized courtrooms with their provocative garb. Here are six notable stories.
Killer’s highly appropriate, highly inappropriate T-shirt. T.J. Lane, the Ohio teenager convicted of killing three students at Chardon High School in 2012, looked appropriately buttoned-down when he arrived at his sentencing hearing earlier this year. Halfway through, though, he removed his collared shirt to reveal a white T-shirt on which he had hand-lettered the word “KILLER.” The shirt wasn’t even Lane’s most antagonistic decision that day—when given the chance to make a statement, he turned to
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
If you have a plea bargain, why not? lol. I would not obviously, but FREEPERS are on such a different level then the poor in the country. The poor have a completely different upbringing.
“Provocative garb?” The “Snitches” tee shirt was obviously meant as a threat to the witnesses, not a moment of sartorial self-expression.
Snitches get stiches and end up in ditches.
Thank you, Curtis Sliwa, you poet laureate of Canarsie.
What about Cousin Vinny?
On the subject of short shorts… I had a custody trial once where I represented the dad. Mom showed up in shorts so short you could see (what is that part of the anatomy - I don’t even know). Judge didn’t kick her out of court but the look on her lawyer’s face was priceless. Needless to say, we prevailed.
“Now, the First Amendment generally protects your right to express yourself through your apparel”
Not when you are in a courtroom and the apparel you choose constitutes witness intimidation!
Witnesses can be called during sentencing hearings too.
Tis better to get stitches then to end up in prison being screwed by some burly bitches.....
The jurors, perhaps, as they sometimes decide on the sentencing and his ‘snitches’ threat was all he could come up with. . .just a thought.
His prison t shirt will probably say “Spinchters get Stitches”
Judge Smails!!
Awesome!!
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The message I get from this is that the unrepentant defendant is already planning on "The next time" !
Good example!
Intriguing assumption on your part. False, though. I can't speak for too many others on FR, but after my parents divorced (when I was 8), there were more than a few times that we had to spend some time in a Salvation Army shelter.
Those are very common in the hood. They keep anyone from talkin to police. You can have a shooting with fifty bystanders and no one saw a thing.
I once had a shirt that said Thugs get Slugs with a Glock symbol under it.
A judge is not obligated to abide by the DA's deal. The DA can make a plea bargain for 5 years, but the judge doesn't have to go along with the DA's sentencing suggestion. Its happened before.
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