Replies

Based on my own experiences in court (I am a lawyer, not a pervert) and based on the news reports, Ritter's lying when he says "the case was dismissed and therefore I have the presumption of innocence." There's more to it than that.

What really happened is that the case was continued for six months while he went to court-ordered sex offender counseling, and then the case was dismissed on good behavior.

Which means either he plead guilty or, more likely, he made an Alford plea (no contest, nolo contendere, stipulation that there is sufficient evidence to find him guilty without an admission of guilt). Based on that and what the prosecutor told him, the judge made a finding of guilt but agreed to dismiss the case if Ritter went to counseling. Courts do not have the legal power to order an innocent man to go to counseling.

Legally, Ritter's not entitled to the presumption of innocence. He's blowing smoke, but that's nothing new.

I think it's disgusting that the file was sealed. Here in Virginia you couldn't do it unless there was a real minor involved, not a cop pretending to be a minor.

And there are some other intriguing aspects to all this. A long-time ADA basically threw away her career to run interference for Ritter. Why?

No DA in his right mind would ever trust her again. In fact, it's unlikely that any senior partner would ever trust her, because if he ever got burned he couldn't say he didn't have fair warning. It will be most interesting to see whether she finds work again and, if so, in what capacity and with whom.

Further, there is now a public perception that the Albany criminal justice system accords special treatment to certain favored defendants. Will anybody be demanding that the state of New York look into this? Will the state sweep it under the rug? Because if they do, the public perception will only worsen. And there are federal implications here. We're all supposed to be equal under the law.