Opinion: Hockey Dad Verdict Backwards

vanity | 1/27/02 | moodyskeptic

[LibWhacker]

Well, you made it sound like it was soooooooooooooooooo terrible that he ignored her advice to stop. But you're not the only one; I've heard that claim repeatedly in regard to this case. What is she, an emergency room doctor? Maybe she's a WBF referee and Junta and Costin agreed beforehand to let her referee the fight. She managed an ice rink, for heaven's sake.

I simply disagree with you about what made this manslaughter. I suspect what really made this manslaughter was that the prosecution was careful to pack the jury with, little, politically correct zombies. Wish I had been on it. If I had been, given all I've heard (and I heard much of it), I would never have agreed to a guilty verdict.

[cynicom]

moody...

Barring you having some personal interest, you and I were raised in two totally different cultures.

[moodyskeptic]

There is only one America. While I try to stay in my safe neighborhood among sane middle class types, life demands that I be in different situations. To pretend that there are NOT some men on a dangerous hair trigger is not merely elitism, but foolish.

I'm happy for your personal safety. I protect mine as best I can. I have never started trouble. Ever.

[wtc911]

It was the rink manager's testimony, and other witnesses saying the identical things, that convicted Junta. So what if she's a woman. So what if her job is rink manager. Junta had an attorney. He had a defense. The defense did not hold up. According to the law what he did is manslaughter.

You'll excuse me if I choose to give the cops, the jury and the judge the benefit of the doubt over your well-considered, I'm sure, opinion.

[DManA]

Guess Junta's dad didn't give him that advise or at least Junta didn't listen because he beat up his wife at lest once that we know of.

Wise fathers tell their boys: don't smart off to cops, don't hit women,

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Thou shalt not MURDER is more accurate.

In this context, 'thou shalt not kill' means do not murder and do not commit manslaughter. That is do not take someone's life without state sanction.

Junta doesn't impress me as a murderer.

There are 13 people (the judge and jury) who were in a better position than you to decide what Junta was, and they unanimously found that he was a manslaughter, not a murderer.

Have you EVER been in a serious tussle? Do you know the feeling of adrenalin pumping too fast? Even you are capable of this mistake.

Yes, and if we make it we will get about 5 years to decide that getting 'in a serious tussle' was a stupid and potentially criminal activity.

[lonevoice]

I am disturbed by the fact that Costin had a serious record for violent crime. 30 arrests, 7 terms in prison or jail for up to 15 months, including felony assault on a police officer.

And, I am disturbed by the fact that a man with this sort of criminal record was employable as a coach for a kid's hockey team.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

. Fights escalate quickly into survival struggles.

They don't if the one who was struck 'turns the other cheek', and refuses to strike back.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The only person that was out of control was the flameing little "Richard"wad.

If Mr. Junta was in control, as you state here, he was severely undercharged by the Grand Jury. If he was in control we are talking about unpremeditaded murder, and Junta should be doing 20 years to life.

[OKSooner]

Any martial arts expert (I'm not one), or any cop for that matter will tell you that in a fight between individuals where all other variables are equal (skill, motivation, blood alcohol content, clothing, etc.) the big guy wins. He is STRONGER, and with the laws of physics being what they are, he can absorb more punishment.

Not to say that there aren't some bad little guys around...

[gunnedah]

I didnt see the trial but and I have a few questions.My problem comes from the big guy coming back other than that I may could agree.I find a big problem with the judge getting away from the normal sentence,that bugs me worse than all I know about this.I understand the judge based some of this on an incident in the big mans past that happened more than 10 years ago but yet he did not take into account the past of the smaller guy. This is a case of an example being made of the big guy by a sitting judge(Attorney). Wonder if Michaek Skakel wii get the same justice the big guy got and where was the Judge when Edward Kennedy murdered Mary Jo. Same system different defendants.

[Uglywhiteguy]

Sure, why not..I agree with you: kill anytime or anyone you choose..you be the judge and executioner..as long as you think they have it coming, that's all that counts!! Take their life, take them away from their kids...no reason is too big or too small..

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Sounds like you like to argue.

Wow, what insight, you have launched a vanity thread not linked to a news item, about a very controversial matter, and you tell someone who posts to this thread that it 'Sounds like you like to argue.'

Have you ever heard the saying about what the pot calls the kettle, and why that is inappropriate.

[I am out of control]

And I've spent an adulthood targeted by stupid little hot headed roosters who like to pick fights they can't win.

Maybe you're hanging out with the wrong people. I'm a big guy, and I never get in fights with anyone of any size.

[Squantos]

They have to be tall enough to "reach" said windpipe.....

Littlemans disease is a bad thing just as big outta shape fat guys throwing their weight around is. This entire episode was two big mouth dumb@sses in too small a space IMHO. No one deserves to die for such a reason but if ya get hit with what ya bring to a fight be it words, fist's or bullets......be prepaired and understand there is one winner and one loser and in most cases all parties are the losers in more ways than one.

Walk Away if at all possible, standing your ground any place other than your home is sheer insanity in this day of litigators and criminal animals.

If ya can't walk away and your life is in danger then get medevil mean and ........Stay Safe !

[jammer]

Well said. The jury and publicity-minded prosecutor in pussy New England just cannot stand a little violence and have to blame SOMEBODY . . . ANYBODY. Even if the real culprit is beyond their reach by being dead.

[FastCoyote]

I must admit to having pounded a guys head on the concrete during a fight in high school. I definitely did not start the fight, I was set up, but I had been a pretty tough wrestler and the adrenalin flows more than non-fighters can imagine. By the way, I lost the fight (he kicked me full in the nuts), however the other guy ran away every time he saw me afterwards. All these years later I wonder who set me up.

[Stars&StripesNE]

Junta was sentenced accordingly. His previous record could not be brought into the trial. The Judge was allowed to consider his previous record. In 1991, Junta's wife had a restraining order on him for beating her with his fists on several occasions in front of their children. He was also arrested for assault and battery on a policeman. He paid a fine and was put on probation for a short time.

While Costin was not an angel, he did not deserve to die. Your analogy is flawed, at best.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Dose the Junta family need to be without a father for ten years because his trial became a movie of the week?

What a weasling approach you take to this. The only one who punished Junta's family was Junta. I don't think that Ted Bundy's mother needed to be permanently without a son, but Ted did that to her, not the state of Florida. For a violent felon like Junta, his lack of self-control requires that he be removed from society. This is unfortunate for his family. Perhaps after Mrs. Junta divorces him, she will choose a cooler head for her next husband.

[go star go]

If ya can't walk away and your life is in danger then get medevil mean and ........Stay Safe !

I haven't been in a fist fight in 20 years. If I had to then medevil mean is exactly what I'd be. I would go into it looking to kill the oponent by whatever means necessary, just on basic principle. I would also go in looking to take my punishment after the fact.