Castle Shima

Me? I'm their man in Nirvana. I'm their technical support. I'm... Oh my God! I'm the tin dog!
-- Mickey from Doctor Who: School Reunion

::: Tower View :::
Anti-Climatic
We went into the final day believing that the last few things remaining were to hear closing arguements. The youngest juror, JP, was estatic. All week he had been complaining, saying comments like "This is stupid. I shouldnt be here doing this crap. This guy shouldnt even have to go thru this and just be let go when his time is up." So now he was able to get out of this mess and go on with his life.

Then he asked the rest of us why Ronnie wasnt allowed to testified. A few of us laughed. I even replied "Are you kidding? The State will eat him alive!"

So imagine our surprise when the first thing that occurs is that Fleschmann calls Ronnie to the stand.

Of course Ronnie is happy. In his words, he done some wrong things in the past, but he done made up for by doing his time. He was going to be going home soon. Fleschmann did his best to portray Ronnie as a remorseful convict who would go straight.

Then the State tore him a new one.

When the State attorney asked about his treatment of Sheila, Ronnie said "Well we was into the rough stuff. She really liked it. I even had put a banana up in her."

Ok, I will admit it. I had to suppress a laugh from that comment because the first thing that I wondered was they did it with or without the peel.

When the State attorney showed pictures of Sheila's injuries, the most he could say was "Like I said, she was into the rough stuff. The more I beat her the more she loved me. She really wanted me. She's even said she would leave whoever she was with for me."

The State attorney even asked "Do all those women want you, sir?"

"Oh yah, they want me. Every woman I've met wanted me. I really cant blame them." Thats when the State showed a picture of Ronnie, in his glorious mullet, and replied "Oh of course sir."

With the topic of Denise's attack, Ronnie said "Well now, she done got me hooked on that crack cocaine. So when we go off get drunk and get high, then have sex. I liked her because she liked the rough stuff, just not as much as Sheila did."

There were just so many other comments that I had to stifle my laughter. A few of the others had to do the same.

"Well, sir. If you are released, what would be the first thing you would want to do?"
"I know my family will want to go out. Have dinner and such. I'm sure my friends and I will want to celebrate."
"Would you drink?"
"I might have one or two. Nothing too fancy."
"But didnt you get in trouble when you were drinking? When you took drugs?"
"Well yeah, but that was a long time ago. I know I'm not the same person."
"But you havent taken any kind of treatment for these things?"
"I really didnt need them."
"If Sheila came to see you, would you let her visit?"
"Oh yeah. She's still a good looking woman. We wouldnt do nothing, but we could talk."

The closing arguements finally came around and summed up each side's opinion. For Fleschmann, although Ronnie was a domestic abuser, he was not a sexual predator, and saying that he would offend again was only a guess. We could never be sure whether or not, he would likely to offend.

For the State, they showed a simple timeline, noting that Ronnie was a repeat offender that treated women like objects to prey upon. That not only is he most likely to offend again, but escalate in his violence.

The judge told us the points of law we were to discuss, the main one being that if we as a jury believed that the Respondent would be likely to offend again, we would state this and he would committed for an extended time frame for treatment. We had no say in what kind of treatment or for how long.

As opposed to a criminal case, we could have a split jury. If the majority believed that Ronnie would likely offend, then he could be committed for treatment, but he could take it back to court to dispute. If the majority believed that he would not be likely to offend, then it was his choice to take that treatment or not and could be released at his regular time, which was in Febuary 2007.

So off we went for deliberations. For the first vote, it was 6 to 1 in the belief that he would likely offend again. We all knew who the one was: The nineteen year old, JP.

His belief was that "He's already done his time. You heard that doctor Cectes. He's an abuser, not a predator. There is no reason why he should go back because of some psycho chick. You got to feel sorry for this guy."

Actually no, we dont. Sympathy isnt supposed to make a difference here.

The rest of us believed that Ronnie was going back to the exact same environment that got him in trouble in the first place: the girlfriend who would go back to him, the drinking, the drugs, and most importantly, the family that would either turn a blind eye or pay off anyone that got in the way.

For hours we discussed this, trying to get JP's opinion without the sympathy. His constant whine was "We should be able to say what kind of treatment he gets. He's an abuser, not a predator. You have to feel sorry because you know part of it was her fault cause she kept going back to him."

We could have gone on with the split decision, but that would have meant someone else would have to go thru this kind of trial. After all, Ronnie would have gone back to court to dispute the treatment.

After another hour of getting JP not to feel sympathetic, he agreed that as an abuser with that crazy family and crazy girl in his life, he would more than likely do it again. The turning point?

Foreman: When he gets out, what is the first thing he is going to do?
JP: He'll go out with his buddies and get drunk.
Foreman: Do you think he'll get high?
JP: Hell yeah, I would..
Juror#3: And do you think Sheila will be waiting for him when he gets out?
JP: Yeah, she's pretty much said so...
Juror#3: So when they both get drunk and high together, what do you think is going to happen?
JP: Well...

And with that, there was unanimous vote to send Ronnie back under civil commitment for treatment.

The points of law were abit more specific than what I detailed here, but hopefully I got the gist of it out properly. Although there was some very slow points during the trial, overall I really did enjoy myself. Not only did I meet some interesting people in the jurors, I got a first hand look at the system, good or bad, regardless of what you believe in the outcome.

This could have been an episode right out of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

How many of us get to say that?
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::: Out In The Yard :::
The top 10 ways you know when a woman is flirting with you. #11 - She asks you if the panties she is removing look better on her or on the floor.
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::: Background Noise :::
Kick Some Ass by Stroke 9

How many people are sick of holding back?
I am, I am...
How many people want to kick some ass?
I would if I could...
But I'm really just a sensative artist
Portrayed that I'm as being the hottest
Acting like I'm not the smartest,
But I'm just an sensative artist
Honest...

*******************************************************
* But I'm a creep
* I'm a weirdo
* What the hell am I doing here?
* I dont belong here
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Me: Aw frig. Look at this email. It basically opens up a can of "Ken-Shut-The-Hell-Up!"
-- From a conversation at work

::: Tower View :::
The Best Defense
By the time the Respondant's lawyers got around to presenting their case, the trial had already dragged on for several days. And we were looking for more of the same.

This time around, the witnesses were a hell of alot more humourous, if not interesting.

The Brother: This man made sure we knew he was proud to be testifying on the behalf of his brother, Ronnie. The Respondant's lawyer, Fleschmann, made sure that we heard how he saw the estranged girlfriend and victim #1, Sheila, assault Ronnie whenever they were drunk or high. He even noted an incident when Sheila hit his girlfriend "while we was at this here Monster Truck Pull a few years back".

He would be very proud to support Ronnie once he got out of jail. Apparently he had no idea what Ronnie had done.

So here was this large chested, thick necked redneck, being brought to tears by a much smaller, almost minute, female lawyer as she showed every single wound photographed on Sheila, asking the brother what kind of injury it was. He was almost completely broken down by the time she was finished thru all the pictures of the second known victim, Denise.

By that time, he was so soft-spoken that the State attorney had to keep asking him to speak up.

The Brother's Girlfriend: She was the victim of one Sheila's drunken rages because, as she put it, A few years ago, we were having a special night out. We had gone up to the Monster Truck Pull and she was there. At the end, I had gone to the bathroom and Sheila done starting hitting on my man, touching him, putting her arms around him and such. Well, I told her that she wasnt going to disrespect me like that. So she headbutted me in the nose. She totally ruined a good evening..."

Ronnie's First Son: Apparently, the just turned 18 year old was a mix of hip hop, hillybilly. The boy's pants were hanging of his arse and he walked as if he was just too cool to be there. Then when he talked, we all wondered if he was high. I had to laugh when he was asked if he ever witnessed an act of violence from Shiela: "When I was younger, my uncle and his girlfriend took me out to the Monster Truck Pull for a family night out and such..."

My mind was racing. Are we sensing a pattern here?!

The Friend: I can understand bringing out as many character witnesses as possble to show Shiela in a different light, but this one only hurt the cause. I could only snicker when this witness came in because I and a couple of other jurors had seen him in the hallway. They didnt believe me when I said this man was a witness because of the way he acted towards the family. They wouldnt believe me, but now here he was, wobbling in as another guest of the State. In leg and arm shackles.

This witness was a resident of a prison across the state, but was brought in for his testimony. When asked to raise his right hand for the oath, he could only raise his hand above his waist since his wrists and ankles were restrained by the chains.

At least he wasnt at the monster truck pull...

The Father: Now here was a man in denial. "I own a glass business that Ronnie worked at when he was a youngun. He'll work there again. He'll live with me until he gets himself settled with a new apartment for him and that woman he met while he was in jail. I'll watch over my boy and make sure he dont get into any more trouble. My family will support Ronnie through this whole thing."

When the State attorney said "But sir, wasnt Ronnie living with you when he was arrested and convicted for his crimes?", the best he could reply was "Well now we cant keep an eye on him twenty fours a day."

The Uncle: Another man in denial, but with a twist. When asked to introduce himself to the jury, he stated "My name is Elmo J. I own the Elmo J Furniture company. I've been living here for all my life. When my dear departed wife passed, I went on and married her sister, Bobbi Jo, and we have been together for twenty years. We are here to support Ronnie and to show that we care for him."

When the State attorney asked about money that had been given to Denise prior to her testimony, he replied "I didnt give her any money whatsoever. But I do believe my wife did. Something about parking tickets.."

The Aunt: This woman was scary. She reminded me of an evil Aunt Bea from Mayberry and that she would have no issues with shooting you in order to get her way. When she was asked about Denise, the second victim, she claimed not to really know her that well.

Then when the topic of money given to her, she stated matter of factly "Well the girl done called us up, begging for help because she was about to go to jail for some unpaid parking tickets. Since we own a furniture store, we are well-to-do. As a good Christian woman, I knew we could afford it so I done give her the money she needed for them tickets."

Then, the State attorney noted that Denise didnt have parking tickets on her record. Denise didnt even have a speeding ticket.

"Well thats what she told me. I had no reason to think otherwise."

Right. Of course not.

The Good Doctor: This expert witness was a clinical psychologist and its no wonder the State wanted to get in as many psychologists in as possible. This doctor, Cectes, was really knowledgeable. He had performed tests on Ronnie to check for brain damage as well as sexual abnormality.

When asked about his fees, he replied "Well, I only charge $500 an hour..." Only?!?!

After all the work and research he discussed, Cectes made a pretty profound statement: "At no point during the attacks did the Respondant become sexually aroused. He never stalked any prey in order to meet some sexual need. His victims were always women he dated. They may have had sex after the attacks, but it wasnt about power, punishment, or fulfillment, but rather anger. The Respondant had drinking and drug issues which increased his anger and in turn he would take it out on the women he was with. That makes him a domestic batterer, not a sexual predator. He may be a bad person, but being a son of bitch isnt a crime in America. Being a domestic abuser is criminal and Ronnie has completed his jail time for that. If the State wishes to incarcerate him again, then it should be for the right reason, not as a sexual predator."

That would come into play on the final day...
To Be Continued
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::: Out In The Yard :::
Second Life can actually make you money. And just like in real life, you have several companies screwing over the consumers.
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::: Background Noise :::
Digging In The Dirt by Peter Gabriel

I'm digging in the dirt
Stay with me
I need someone
I'm digging in the dirt
Finding the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt

*******************************************************
* But I'm a creep
* I'm a weirdo
* What the hell am I doing here?
* I dont belong here
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