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The American Nightmare: The Tyranny Of The Criminal Justice System
Submitted by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool’s hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.—Bob Dylan, “Hurricane”
Justice in America is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Just ask Jeffrey Deskovic, who spent 16 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. Despite the fact that Deskovic’s DNA did not match what was found at the murder scene, he was singled out by police as a suspect because he wept at the victim’s funeral (he was 16 years old at the time), then badgered over the course of two months into confessing his guilt. He was eventually paid $6.5 million in reparation.
James Bain spent 35 years in prison for the kidnapping and rape of a 9-year-old boy, but he too was innocent of the crime. Despite the fact that the prosecutor’s case was flimsy—it hinged on the similarity of Bain’s first name to the rapist’s, Bain’s ownership of a red motorcycle, and a misidentification of Bain in a lineup by a hysterical 9-year-old boy—Bain was sentenced to life in prison. He was finally freed after DNA testing proved his innocence, and was paid $1.7 million.
Mark Weiner got off relatively easy when you compare his experience to the thousands of individuals who are spending lifetimes behind bars for crimes they did not commit.
Weiner was wrongfully arrested, convicted, and jailed for more than two years for a crime he too did not commit. In his case, a young woman claimed Weiner had abducted her, knocked her out and then sent taunting text messages to her boyfriend about his plans to rape her. Despite the fact that cell phone signals, eyewitness accounts and expert testimony indicated the young woman had fabricated the entire incident, the prosecutor and judge repeatedly rejected any evidence contradicting the woman’s far-fetched account, sentencing Weiner to eight more years in jail. Weiner was only released after his accuser was caught selling cocaine to undercover cops.
In the meantime, Weiner lost his job, his home, and his savings, and time with his wife and young son. As Slate reporter journalist Dahlia Lithwick warned, “If anyone suggests that the fact that Mark Weiner was released this week means ‘the system works,’ I fear that I will have to punch him in the neck. Because at every single turn, the system that should have worked to consider proof of Weiner’s innocence failed him.”
The system that should have worked didn’t, because the system is broken, almost beyond repair.
In courtroom thrillers like 12 Angry Men and To Kill a Mockingbird, justice is served in the end because someone—whether it’s Juror #8 or Atticus Finch—chooses to stand on principle and challenge wrongdoing, and truth wins.
Unfortunately, in the real world, justice is harder to come by, fairness is almost unheard of, and truth rarely wins.
On paper, you may be innocent until proven guilty, but in actuality, you’ve already been tried, found guilty and convicted by police officers, prosecutors and judges long before you ever appear in a courtroom.
Chronic injustice has turned the American dream into a nightmare.
At every step along the way, whether it’s encounters with the police, dealings with prosecutors, hearings in court before judges and juries, or jail terms in one of the nation’s many prisons, the system is riddled with corruption, abuse and an appalling disregard for the rights of the citizenry.
Due process rights afforded to a person accused of a crime—the right to remain silent, the right to be informed of the charges against you, the right to representation by counsel, the right to a fair trial, the right to a speedy trial, the right to prove your innocence with witnesses and evidence, the right to a reasonable bail, the right to not languish in jail before being tried, the right to confront your accusers, etc.—mean nothing when the government is allowed to sidestep those safeguards against abuse whenever convenient.
It’s telling that while President Obama said all the right things about the broken state of our criminal justice system—that we jail too many Americans for nonviolent crimes (we make up 5 percent of the world’s population, but our prison population constitutes nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners), that we spend more money on incarceration than any other nation ($80 billion a year), that we sentence people for longer jail terms than their crimes merit, that our criminal justice system is far from color-blind, that the nation’s school-to-prison pipeline is contributing to overcrowded jails, and that we need to focus on rehabilitation of criminals rather than retribution—he failed to own up to the government’s major role in contributing to this injustice in America.
Indeed, while Obama placed the responsibility for reform squarely in the hands of prosecutors, judges and police, he failed to acknowledge that they bear the burden of our failed justice system, along with the legislatures and corporations who have worked with them to create an environment that is hostile to the rights of the accused.
In such a climate, we are all the accused, the guilty and the suspect.
As I document in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we’re operating in a new paradigm where the citizenry are presumed guilty and treated as suspects, our movements tracked, our communications monitored, our property seized and searched, our bodily integrity disregarded, and our inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” rendered insignificant when measured against the government’s priorities.
Every American is now in jeopardy of being targeted and punished for a crime he did not commit thanks to an overabundance of arcane laws. Making matters worse, by allowing government agents to operate above the law, immune from wrongdoing, we have created a situation in which the law is one-sided and top-down, used as a hammer to oppress the populace, while useless in protecting us against government abuse.
Add to the mix a profit-driven system of incarceration in which state and federal governments agree to keep the jails full in exchange for having private corporations run the prisons, and you will find the only word to describe such a state of abject corruption is “evil.”
How else do you explain a system that allows police officers to shoot first and ask questions later, without any real consequences for their misdeeds? Despite the initial outcry over the shootings of unarmed individuals in Ferguson and Baltimore, the pace of police shootings has yet to slow. In fact, close to 400 people were shot and killed by police nationwide in the first half of 2015, almost two shootings a day. Those are just the shootings that were tracked. Of those killed, almost 1 in 6 were either unarmed or carried a toy gun.
For those who survive an encounter with the police only to end up on the inside of a jail cell, waiting for a “fair and speedy trial,” it’s often a long wait. Consider that 60 percent of the people in the nation’s jails have yet to be convicted of a crime. There are 2.3 million people in jails or prisons in America. Those who can’t afford bail, “some of them innocent, most of them nonviolent and a vast majority of them impoverished,” will spend about four months in jail before they even get a trial.
Not even that promised “day in court” is a guarantee that justice will be served.
As Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals points out, there are an endless number of factors that can render an innocent man or woman a criminal and caged for life: unreliable eyewitnesses, fallible forensic evidence, flawed memories, coerced confessions, harsh interrogation tactics, uninformed jurors, prosecutorial misconduct, falsified evidence, and overly harsh sentences, to name just a few.
In early 2015, the Justice Department and FBI “formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period…. The admissions mark a watershed in one of the country’s largest forensic scandals, highlighting the failure of the nation’s courts for decades to keep bogus scientific information from juries, legal analysts said.”
“How do rogue forensic scientists and other bad cops thrive in our criminal justice system?” asks Judge Kozinski. “The simple answer is that some prosecutors turn a blind eye to such misconduct because they’re more interested in gaining a conviction than achieving a just result.”
The power of prosecutors is not to be underestimated.
Increasingly, when we talk about innocent people being jailed for crimes they did not commit, the prosecutor plays a critical role in bringing about that injustice. As The Washington Post reports, “Prosecutors win 95 percent of their cases, 90 percent of them without ever having to go to trial…. Are American prosecutors that much better? No… it is because of the plea bargain, a system of bullying and intimidation by government lawyers for which they ‘would be disbarred in most other serious countries….’”
This phenomenon of innocent people pleading guilty makes a mockery of everything the criminal justice system is supposed to stand for: fairness, equality and justice. As Judge Jed S. Rakoff concludes, “our criminal justice system is almost exclusively a system of plea bargaining, negotiated behind closed doors and with no judicial oversight. The outcome is very largely determined by the prosecutor alone.”
It’s estimated that between 2 and 8 percent of convicted felons who have agreed to a prosecutor’s plea bargain (remember, there are 2.3 million prisoners in America) are in prison for crimes they did not commit.
Clearly, the Coalition for Public Safety was right when it concluded, “You don’t need to be a criminal to have your life destroyed by the U.S. criminal justice system.”
It wasn’t always this way. As Judge Rakoff recounts, the Founding Fathers envisioned a criminal justice system in which the critical element “was the jury trial, which served not only as a truth-seeking mechanism and a means of achieving fairness, but also as a shield against tyranny.”
That shield against tyranny has long since been shattered, leaving Americans vulnerable to the cruelties, vanities, errors, ambitions and greed of the government and its partners in crime.
There is not enough money in the world to make reparation to those whose lives have been disrupted by wrongful convictions.
Over the past quarter century, more than 1500 Americans have been released from prison after being cleared of crimes they did not commit. These are the fortunate ones. For every exonerated convict who is able to prove his innocence after 10, 20 or 30 years behind bars, Judge Kozinski estimates there may be dozens who are innocent but cannot prove it, lacking access to lawyers, evidence, money and avenues of appeal.
For those who have yet to fully experience the injustice of the American system of justice, it’s only a matter of time.
America no longer operates under a system of justice characterized by due process, an assumption of innocence, probable cause, and clear prohibitions on government overreach and police abuse. Instead, our courts of justice have been transformed into courts of order, advocating for the government’s interests, rather than championing the rights of the citizenry, as enshrined in the Constitution.
Without courts willing to uphold the Constitution’s provisions when government officials disregard them, and a citizenry knowledgeable enough to be outraged when those provisions are undermined, the Constitution provides little protection against the police state.
In other words, in this age of hollow justice, courts of order, and government-sanctioned tyranny, the Constitution is no safeguard against government wrongdoing such as SWAT team raids, domestic surveillance, police shootings of unarmed citizens, indefinite detentions, asset forfeitures, prosecutorial misconduct and the like.
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Welcome to the USSA Bitchezzz
A jury of your peers is the surest way to prison sex incorporated for those that the prosecution wants sent to the Gulag. A prosecutor and presiding black robed jackboot usually leads a typical jury by the nose.
The only time that I served on a jury was circa 1980, and a cop was on trial for breaking and entering the evidence room and stealing the booty for personal gain. Yes, he was set up in a sting operation, so he claimed entrapment. He had to knock the door hinge pins out and remove the door to get in. The jury voted 11-1 for acquittal, as I recall one of the ignorant fcks in deliberations say, 'they're all crooked, why should he be jailed.' I was the only one who voted for Guilty. The evidence was overwhelming.
I was known by father's occupation, retired USAF Security Police commander and deputy prison warden in the city in which we lived. I don't know why I wasn't scratched during jury selection. Upon jury dismissal, as I was leaving the elevator and walking into the courthouse lobby, one of the jurors called out that I was the one (who hung the jury). I got anonymous phone calls for a few days. Didn't say anything, just the voiceless phone calls.
Good for you! And thank you. There is right and wrong. The society is grading on a curve these days.
Even at that tinder age, I was appalled by the capriciousness of the average Joe. The Third Reich and the USSR were supported en mass by their average Joes.
That's the one they won't let you hear.
Stupid diatribe backed up with almost no facts.
Why are these articles only posted late at night?
All day long it's inside baseball on which Greek politician said what.
The philosophical debate pieces only come out at night?
pods
It's hardly a diatribe, do I need to write a thesis paper connecting the dots, when a fairly well read person will have already come to a similar conclusion? You don't think that the CCCP and the National Workers Socialist Party had strong support from the average Joe? I'll respond to a specific criticism of my generalize posted opinion if you so wish to continue.
Yes, you need to prove your point. If the answer is obvious, then why bother writing anything.
This is a horrible article. There is no support for the author's claim that the system is the problem. Instead, it only shows that perhaps no system can work when the humans involved are inherently stupid, lazy, greedy and dishonest.
No offense. But this article would get a failing grade in a high school rhetoric class. Learn how to make a point and support it with facts. Otherwise it is bullshit.
Was GI there? He was down and out after losing his dad.
There is nothing wrong with the US justice system. All communist countries torture and kill their own citizens especially the weak ones such as North Korea and the United States of America.
Shhhh..You will awaken the scavenger, the Bald Eagle, a symbol of what the United States is all about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoqOYACbFjI
Watch as the symbol of our FREEDUMB scavanges for those yummy rotting Fish Heads...Mmmm Mmmm good.
They are just so reflective of the American Public, aren't they? It is actually an appropriate and representative symbol.
Now I may get caged to be fed rotting green bologna for what I write.
You know those untried innocents behind bars deserve that maltreatment, right?.
The American public cannot care less as they are ALL GUILTY otherwise they would not be there.
Presumption of innocense until proven guilty does not exist. They claim they aspire to such ideals, but, in reality, they are just scavenging hypocrites.
Seems like lot of Govt types on ZH today...all 10 of them are down voting me...LOL!
Yup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVUlrTPNdF0
You want to change the system, look at what happened to Aaron Swartz, murdered and his death made to look like he hung himself. If the police ever looked at surveillance footage from the digital security cameras used by the houses on Swartz's block (a Jewish enclave in a black neighborhood), the police kept mum. And then there is DA Ray Gricar, reinvestigating some crimes (including Penn State's Jerry Sandusky, the murder of Dawn Marie Birnbaum and the "suicide" death of his brother Roy Gricar) before the DA retired. Ray Gricar is still missing, his body never found, his death a warning to anyone else who threatens the way things are with the satanists who run America.
They say you killed him and that's why ur in trouble right now.
The Just-Us system works perfectly.
Zio bankster scum can loot the treasury and blow up skyscrapers on live television, while the lowly goyim class fills the private for profit prisons for mostly victimless crimes.
Still ignorant about the seminal event of our lifetime?
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/9-11/Israel_did_it
Best legal system money can buy.
Yeah, and we have the best "representatives" money can buy.
They said he shouldn't have been in that hell hole to begin with, the people there can't take thier own state's motto's advice.
^^^ - This. is. the. key.
If you can afford "justice" you will get off, if you cannot, you go to prison, regardless of guilt or innocence. As an attorney, I can definitively say that how much you are willing (or able) to spend on defending yourself is much more important than those trifling things like "facts" or 'evidence" in determining the outcome of your case. Our pretend 'justice' system is truly farcical and just another coopted institution that tries to support/maintain the illusion for the deluded masses that they have legal rights and thus should continue to support the evil system that is robbing and ass raping them on a daily basis.
"They have legal rights" - HAhahahahaha - vomit.
As an attorney, do you see any concern for justice or only procedure?
I've heard it said several times that prosecutors, judges, court staff don't care about justice or fairness, just following procedural rules.
Again, and again, please don't repeat the OFFICIAL definitions, this is yet another Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy story.
The purpose of the criminal justice system in the USA (and elsewhere) is two-fold: to restrict, or cancel out, the low-end competition; and, to jail and trivialize the reformers.
Hence, the low-enders, the competition to the super-criminals who run and control reality at the top, are rendered powerless by being jailed.
The reformers, the Eugene Debs, Helen Gurley Flynn, and today, John Kiriakou, etc., are routinely jailed as they pose a threat to their system, the Status Quo.
People have a most difficult time dealing with this, but study the history of the American jurisprudence system, and it becomes readily apparent.
The robber of the small store is a capitalist, as is the small store owner. If the robber is successful and moves on to bigger and better things, he eventually might assume his place among the super-rich criminals, but if he is caught, then he or she is incarcerated, for being a poorly functioning capitalist!
Hey! Life, look at me, I can see the reality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpXHVuXDBK4
As a juror, I'm requiring NSA quality surveillance proving guilt before convicting on any crime.
It's available.
Provide it or I've got reasonable doubt.
Be sure to verse your fellow jurors on "Jury Nullification" as well. Very important.
Blacks are getting the message about nullification, except it's all based on race loyality. The danger of nullification, but still, it is necessary.
For my part, I would not "verse" jurors on the law in a courthouse.
Voicing my personal doubts during deliberations concerning the evidence or lack thereof?
I would do that.
Oh fuck that. As a juror, you decide the law, as well as the evidence. Don't let them waste any more of your time.
Stop listening to the time-wasting judges and lawyers.
I stay away from the house of i'll repuke.
In the late 1800s judges stopped instructing jurors that they could judge the law itself, not just the innocents or guilt of the person charged.
Slavery and prohibition both came to an end because juries stopped convicting.
The constitution gives you 3 votes. The 2 never talked about are as juror or grand juror.
When you serve on a jury you have more power than the president. You can not be prosecuted for a jury vote. [In reality you have veto power over a law]
AND....
We live in a worldwhere folks do not register to vote because they might get called for jury duty ...sigh
1. If you are in a Constitutional Court the jury's decision is final. If you are in an Admiralty Court ( most courts of Statutes, Regulations and Codes) the judge can throw out the jury's decision.
2. I went before 9 different " Judges" ( code word for Administrators ) in 9 different appearances on two "traffic violations". I never had a trial but was found "responsible". One code violation had a criminal complaint (the police knew in advance I had no criminal intent) which the DA decriminalized because he knew he could not show intent to commit a crime.
I represented myself over 2 1/2 years, filed 3 different appeals, spent about 10K ( a BAR (fly) attorney would have charged over 100 K).
Finally I received a call from the DA saying he could not refute my appeal and the State would most likely loose. He offered a dismissal saying he could find no evidence that I had a trial. He said if I went through with the appeal the Appellate court would most likely order a "new" trial. We signed an agreement ending the appeal and the Administrative Court was instructed to dismiss the charges.
Almost no one understands the law nor the court procedures and language. I had to learn in real time and found someone to advise me who was not a BAR fly. Almost no one could stand the stress nor afford the time and money I spent to obtain justice. It is easier to plead guilty and pay the fine which is why almost no one tries to defeat the fraud of the legal system.
It is easier to plead guilty and pay the fine which is why almost no one tries to defeat the fraud of the legal system.
That's it in a nutshell isn't it?
Supernova is right, the judge will light your arse on fire for instructing the jury in contradiction to his instructions. Judges have held a number of people in contempt over the years for that.
As for deliberations, you'll probably come to the conclusion that you are the only juror that is not legally retarded if your experience was like mine.
Hell, they know the last intersection you crossed in your car lol.
And when they provide it how do you know it wasn't fabricated? Most people are on trial for "crimes" where there is no victim so the answer is aquital even if you have video of the dude standing on the corner yelling "get your cocaine here!" Of course, if they have video of someone taking out a politician or a banker the vote is "medal of honor."
The Gulag Archipeligo is an interesting read. That's what you eventually get with a standing army of revenue collection agents that need to make their numbers. Theft? Murder? Rape? No time for that when there's money in ticketing minor motor vehicle infractions.
Yep,
It is no longer "To Serve and Protect" it is now
"To Beat and Collect"
And "prosecutorial immunity", or whatever it's called. Why can't the state be held liable for prosecutorial overreach? The only exception I can recall was Nifong in the Duke rape case. Otherwise the rest of them are never held accountable for convicting innocent people.
Prosecutorial immunity is a concoction of the political class trying to reclaim the privileges of royalty. There should be no such thing.
To Taze and Ticket
Protect and Serve has been changed to
Harrass and Extract
Why is it that every time a police cruiser gets behind me on the road, he tailgates me? That's a violation of the law called "following too closely".
And it's intimidating. Because, most people go 10 over the posted speed limit all the time and the cops don't ticket for that.
But when one is behind you and tailgating you in his 'prowler', is it because he wants you to go 10 over so he can get where he's going, or is he trying to goad you into speeding up so he can pull you over and shake you down? (any ticket here nets out at at least $230 no matter what).
They should enforce by example: obey the speed limit, don't tailgate, and stop acting like fucking assholes when they do catch people disobeying malum prohibitum laws.
They initiate the encounters almost every time and they dictate the way those encounters play out.
I don't talk to them. And when they tailgate me, I go exactly the speed limit and fuck em for tailgating and breaking the law as well as endangering me and my passengers by following too close.
If I was tailgating them like that they'd pull me over.
And I don't like having an armed agitated man at the window of my car telling me what to do.
Thanks, but I'll protect myself.
Because intimidation is a primary tactic by which police get their "job" done.
and by "job" I mean extorting money and working their way around your "rights"....and throwing the book at you if you do not acquiesce to voluntarily giving up your rights.
If you were innocent why would you be put on trial?
You're all guilty of something. Me, too. It's just a matter of figuring out what you're guilty of and whether we want to enforce it. That's where the money comes into the equation.
check this out.
http://www.threefeloniesaday.com/Youtoo/tabid/86/Default.aspx
The last time Congress asked Congressional Research Services to count the number of federal crimes, CRS told Congress to pound sand because the last time CRS tried, they got up to 10,000 and determined that the cross references between the USC and the CFR made it far too complex to continue. When Congress inquired what would fix the problem of having these laws being unjustly applied, they were given a simple answer: Pass a law requiring that mens rea (guilty mind) be proven before a conviction could stick. Congress has yet to do as much.
"Show me the man and I'll find you the crime."
~Beria
Spot on Dude. When this nation's so called rule of law dismantles the legal concept of mens rea, we are truly a police state, a nation of men, not laws. People going to jail for violations of a regulation in this Administrative State. Frightening, and yet people still mouth the axiom of the State; "ignorance of the law is no excuse." Frightening
My first encounter with a blue hero was a CHP when I was 13 (1979). I had just moved to SoCal, and was pushing my YZ80 along side the road toward a legal riding area.
Mr. CHP was sitting there with his lights on. As I pass by I ask him what's going on with all the firetrucks and emergency vehicles?
He says "I don't see a green sticker on that motorcycle". I said "I just moved here last week from Missouri".
He says "Son, you're required by law to have a green sticker on that bike, and ignorance is no excuse".
He wrote me a ticket. My dad was pissed at me for getting a ticket but admitted that he, a federal law enforcement officer himself, didn't know that law.
I learned at a young age not to talk to them because they will bust anything and anybody at any time.
You start talking to them, then they start looking to bust you for any violation of a myriad of regulations that no one citizen can possibly know.
Nope, don't want them around me at all.
I deal with people on a daily basis who called the police for one thing, but end up getting arrested or hurt themselves (or a loved one) over something unrelated just because a cop was there.
Dog will hunt.
Awesomest part of that one is that they can still bust you based on THEIR ignorance of the law....
you dont know it - book thrown at you
they dont know it - they enforce what they FEEL is "the law" anyway and have a hundred jackboots to back them up on it.
I had to post again because of the lack of votes. Your assertion hits at at the center of our journey becoming just another police state. In the past, a critical element of proving a crime, was intent. Period. No more for the most part, and mens rea is nearly non existent in administrative law proceedings. too bad you didn't know about the regulation, you're guilty. I can burn on my property, but only if I comply with multiple shalls and shall nots; and only if you comply with sub part a and sub part c when it is subordinate to sub part b, and then only if compliant with sub part d. Yet, they are in conflict. Same with the gun control laws and interpretations in NC. Being a criminal in Amerika is as easy as getting up each morning and living within this society.
The Beria quote is blood curdling, and the millions of graves built with that mentality.
Actually, if I ever were to get popped with some arcane BS federal regulation like that, part of my defense would be to look for some arcane BS federal law or reg that contradicts what they're after me for. There are some practical and legal issues when one law requires that you violate another and vise versa. If I could, I would use the bloat and complexity of US law against the system.
First, you'd have to be a lawyer, second you'd have to read, and be able retain, all the bullshit laws and regulations from International, Our War Government, State, County, and Town laws/regulations/edicts and demands...then be able to match the idiocy with similar idiocy.
A daunting task.
I have successfully defended myself against a TBTF in civil court. The idea that you have to be a lawyer is a myth.
you are indeed a man taking the road less traveled, and with great consequence should you not prevail. I don't think (Don't actually know) courts look kindly on people representing themselves and might even get a complaint that you;re practicing law without a license, if you should show sufficient acumen and motivation.
Courts lecture you that you need to hire an attorney. They do this because attorney's are neutered and won't raise issues such as jurisdiction or common law requirements for mens rea and a victim.
Again, I am luckty where I am. Your experience will vary depending what court you are in. I've watched judges do the equivalent of grabbing a pro se defendant by the ear and say "here is the procedure,you need to follow it. Now, since you didn't follow it, do you want to ask me for an extension so that you can follow it?" In some districts, you will get nowhere pro se. I talked to a fellow who recounted his experinece pre and post passing the bar and he said that in his district, the judges flat out would not listen to a pro se litigant. It's been long enough for me to not remember the details, but it should suffice to say that he used legal arguments, lost, then hired an attorney who used the exact same arguments and won. He decided that he wanted to go to lawschool for much more altruistic reasons than most attorneys do.
Don't get me wrong. I commend you. It's that such a task is almost insurmountable.
I've done it too, but I'm a lawyer... facts make cases, not lawyers... and if the facts are on your side, not even a TBTF bank is likely to win... at least not in BFE courts across america (may be different in some financial hubs).
Further, in many instances, it benefits you to represent yourself because the court is often going to bend over backwards for procedural errors, evidentiary errors, etc. and guide you through the case... just depends on the judge you pull.
To compliment that, it helps a lot if you are clearly trying to follow the rules. Even if you mess up, if you are trying, the courts are more likely to be helpful. IMO, the times when you should call the other side on not following the rules when you are pro se is when it malicious and during discovery, and during discovery, it shoudl be after they have trampled the shit out of the rules.
And yes, the facts in my case mean that it should have never been filed in the firstplace. I was unable to afford an attorney. I was pro se, and not by choice.
On foreclosure defense and the like, you're much more likely to be pro se... They're fairly easy to defend, but because there is no money involved usually (the plaintiff will just nonsuit the case if they believe they'll lose - no lawyer fees), the lawyer has to take it on hourly billing. If you don't already have a good relationship with the lawyer, then you'll probably have to pay a stiff retainer. This is the reason for so many "unjust" things in the foreclosure realm... default judgments. Again, if you don't put up, then shut up.
The problem that pro se litigants have on foreclosure defense is that the court has already seen 15 "sovereign men" that day proclaiming some jibberish... as a pro se litigant, you'll have to go above and beyond to drag the judge through some involved legal issues.
And yes, you don't involve the court unless you can prove the other side has completely screwed up... if you pull the trigger too quickly, especially on discovery disputes (which courts hate to deal with btw), then you burn your credibility... it's no different than poker... you play tight until you need to cash in on that credibility to bluff.
Yup. It was made clear to me via reading the rules and through hearing others who had been through it that being a miser over discovery issues was a bad idea, that it was best to work with the other side as long as possible to try to keep the court out of it, then to move on the issue. Then I watched my judge on another case when an attorney was whining about a discovery issue at an unrelated hearing, and she really got pissed. Funny thing is, I won my case by asking them for all of the documents they would have needed to win their case They tried to jerk me around really hard.. That, combined with documents that they had sent me would have proven that banks don't keep reliable records. Their records were outright contradictory, sometimes even on a single page.
Yep. The problem with utilizing social complexity as a competition tool is that eventually the system is so cumbersome, the boots on the ground are incapable of intellectually keeping up. It works wonders in the realm of retail finance, student loans, etc., but when you have to rely on the same people to keep up with complicated legal matters, then shit hits the fan. You can't eat your cake and have it too.
You might prevail in a small claims court or on a misdemeanor charge. In circuit court you are toast. Never forget that the judge is a lawyer and lawyers consider the general public to be idiots. In their view if they are confronted by a pro se litigant, they are facing a nut job.
I wasn't in small claims when I won against a TBTF...
>> First, you'd have to be a lawyer,
The entire CFR is online and searchable. If you are good with google you can find it.
Yeah but would you trust a Jury of your peers to understand more than their all to common BrainStem level of cogitation? Even worse if you ask for a bench trail, cause he/she's there to protect the state.
The rules require that I raise the issue long before trial. Every judicial district is different. Some are better than others. I'm lucky. I live in a district where the chief US District Court judge does not like LEO abuses. The state district court level has corruption, like everything, but most of it has to do with judges hiring prostitutes and cheating to get on the bench. The actual treatment of cases where it is somebody who is not a primo of theirs is actually decent. When I say YMMV, I mean it in a big way. Or rather, I should say, your mileage WILL vary, depending on what judicial districts you are in.
And not only mastering the legal question is required but a fastidious adherence to the various civil procedures governing the actions that vary from court to court and circuit to circuit.
Master the rules of civil (or criminal) procedure and master the rules of evidence. Those procedures are your playbook. Look up the case law pertinent to your case. Whether or not you should show up in blue jeans and a plaid shirt or a suit that makes you look like an attorney depends on your district, but know your district before you show up pro se.
You won because your opponent didn't want to spend any more time and money. Have you ever been before an appellate court, even once? Have you ever petitioned the Supreme Court? Have you ever reported and testified about court or prosecutor corruption? Have you ever argued before a jury?
Dr. Sachs could use your expertise. http://faqusajudicialcorruption.blogspot.com/
How do you counter false forensic evidence? http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-m...
Have you conducted depositions? Which rules should be used against this abuse by a Clinton appointed judge yesterday: http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2015/07/judge-halts-deposi...
No, and I won because continuing the case would have opened up a world of shit for the TBTF, and I was following procedure. Their records were beyond fucked, and they hadn't looked at them until I sent in requests for the production of documents.
And other pro se defendants have won on appeal in my district.
It's easy for people who haven't been in the court system to tell others how the court system works. Funny thing is, they're not always right.
It's easy for a person who's been to court once to tell how uncorrupt the system is.
Why have the thousands of others failed, even with lawyers, in the higher courts? Over 142,000 cases of court corruption have been reported in NY State, but your case negates them all. http://exposecorruptcourts.blogspot.com/
Where is your district? Was it federal or state court? Your skills are very marketable. Can I send clients to you?
If you've read all of my posts in this thread, I've made it clear that your milage WILL vary depending on what district you are in. I've argued in state district court - the equivalent of circut in some other states, and in federal district court. If you've read my other posts, you'll note that I've also stated that I'm lucky to have the courts that I have. I didn't win by just assuming that everything was corrupt. I won by observing and learning how the courts worked, then applied that knowledge. I also got to watch attorneys NOT apply that knowledge and get their asses kicked. I also watched as some did masterful jobs of kicking ass.
And, no, you can't send clients to me. Fuckoff with your sarcasm.
I have a PACER account. I and others here would be delighted to view your federal legal arguments. Case please. https://www.pacer.gov/
If you want it, I'll need a private means of contacting you. I'm not posting it in here. I'll tell you that the federal case was fought to a draw. I got most of what I wanted out of it.
Got a speeding ticket. Cop wrote me up for doing 95 mph in a 55 mph area.
Went to court.
Traffic Commissioner was a hard ass, "you're going to jail, thousand dollar fine" (or more) at the start of the session.
I've got a State fine of something like $600,
Commissioner looks up out over the crowd and sees me. "[My Name], what are you doing here?" "Got a speeding ticket." "Yeah, where you speeding?" "Yes, but not this god damned fast." "Ok, fine is $100." *Bang* "Pay the lady over there." "Yes, sir, [His first name], thanks.".
Entire courtroom turns to look at me like I'm a fucking celebrity.
Twenty years in Scouting has some benefits.
El Vaquero..can I call you if I need legal aid?? your posts in this thread are some of the best on zh this year.
I read this earlier today and I bookmarked it so that people in another country can read it when I go over there soon.
To show them how fucked up this GOV has become.
It doesn't help that the system has become loaded with politically correct man hating feminists at every level.
I see you have fallen for the diverionary tactics ot TPTB
Hopefully you will wake up soon enough to avoid the worst of what's coming.
It's hardly diversionary when it's happened to you.
You are only as guilty as they need you to be.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
Power will be as guillotine as their crimes dictate.
Jury Nullification! Now why don't they teach that in government schools????
Same reason they don't teach about money.
Or real government...
Under Rated Thread.
-
- Jury Nullification
- Money
- Banking & Finance & Accounting & Auditing & Accounting Control Fraud
- Central Banking
- Government, Cronyism, Conflict of Interest, Financial Ties, Money & Gift Giving in Government & Revolving Door to Industry & Gerrymandering & Soft Money & How Officials Get Rich, promoted, advance their careers, get bonuses, get brand new careers, sell books
- Anti-Trust Legislation & Lack of Enforcement, FTC, SEC, FINRA Failures, 100 years of Anti-Trust Legislation
- Depressions & Banks & Tight Private Bank Lending, Low Velocity & Stagnant Capital, Leaking Capital, Outsourcing, Abusive Worker Practices,
- Cutting US Jobs as a Political Act, Threat or Coercion, Blackmail, while small businesses & self employment are Trending toward extreme low levels and Middle Class faces lower Wages and Higher Education, Housing, Transportation, Insurance, and Health Care with other Inflation
"Over the past quarter century, more than 1500 Americans have been released from prison after being cleared of crimes they did not commit."
LOL. That's probably the number of times a cop plants drugs on someone and arrests them in one year.
Once you understand how corrupt the police are, the incentives of the prosecution, and how plea bargaining works, you'll realize that it's likely that 50% of people imprisoned are guilty of charged crimes.
Sitting in an interview room knowing this is a truly frightening experience!
YouTube has plenty of ask for a lawyer, invoke your right to remain silent and then STFU videos.
they don't call it the 'criminal' justice system for nothin'
You have to follow the 8 fold path, not have a lot of money and be lucky.
You missed 6 folds.
;-)
Selling drugs and Prostitution should not be a crime otherwise Mich McConnell and Family would be incarcerated for LIFE.
so you have no problem with me dealing drugs and running a strip joint next to your house then.
and don't say it should be regulated becuase you ZHers are supposed to be AGAINST gov't interference in free enterprise
So long as it is understood that I'm allowed to shoot people assaulting me or stealing my shit, I don't believe that it would be much of a problem.
fire away.
edit
If Drugs and prostitution were legal, and if you invested into such a venture, then your investment would be as good as your Username.
You're firing on all cylinders tonight :)
If I was serving bar you would be shut off.
Give him another one, asshole.
@ lost money
Not at all, it would save me a lot of incoming and outgoing expense. However my main point is that Mitch who holds an important position in .Gov must be exerting undue influence in keeping his cocaine smuggling in-laws out of jail.
Government has a legitimate role in setting standards in weight, measures and providing a level field for enforcing contracts.
So, yeah, it should be regulated, legal, and transparent. Posted menus should price everything from a lap dance to an anal fuck...with a premium per girl. A price list for the drugs should be posted in a conspicuous location along with the prices for personal booze and booze for the floozy.
Tipping should be encouraged.
We have a larger prison population because we can't do what some of those other countries do with convicted criminals. In some countries, when caught dealing drugs, you are executed within a few years, as opposed to servng 25 to life in the US. In some places like Singapore, they have caning. In other places they cut the hand off a theif rather than put him in prison at tax payer expense for 15 years. We have a large prison population because that is the only punishment allowed these days and some of you want to do away even with that.
YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN! I MEAN IT THIS TIME DAMMIT!
How about this: We have far too many laws, making everybody, including you, a criminal. Yes, you are a criminal. There are over 10,000 federal crimes, plus countless state and local crimes, and I guarantee that you have violated many of them without even realizing it. The "GOTTA GET TOUGH ON CRIME! HERP HERP DERP!" attitude leads to a police state. Get rid of a lot of the laws and strengthen self defense rights, and things will take care of themselves. A society can be made to work without tons of law enforcement. This worked for 400+ years:
That included somebody summoning another for violating the equivalent of criminal law. Citizens were responsible for policing their community.
Nothing you said changes a thing I said. We dont have community policing, we have a prison system because people wanted to do away with community policing, i.e. getting a posse togehter, catching and hanging a horse thief. today we arrst him and put him in jail. 100 years ago, no jail, today jail. and a prison population. people ued to be put in stocks for two or three days, shamed before friends and family and released. that was deemed offensive and done away with, so we had to build a prison to hold the guy. hence a large prsion population.
and most people are not in jail based the crime of waking up in the morning.
It's really no fun being kept in a tiny cell. I experienced that once when I was high on acid. Watching the cops melting was no fun.
You been watching too many cop shows.
Lost Money - Perhaps if you want to know why societies build police states (it is really about taxation) you should read Fredrick Bastiat's 'The Law'.
The law today is about expediant taxation. If your going to go Pro Se there are books about it. But it comes down to striking a deal with the prosecutor, that is pretty much what an attorney will do based on the crime.
In NH where I lived for a time the state (female legislature) used family law, driving offences and gender bias/sexual harrassment lawsuits for taxation. I won multiple cases, all except one and that was an activist female judge who forced me into default by nefarious means (I was kicking the shit out of the plaintiff). Nowdays, I would just hire a lawyer. Time is precious and while my experiences taught me a lot it just isnt worth it to fight the expediancy/tax system.
As for driving offences I didnt have a ticket in 23 years. I always asked for a break and got one. I put my hands on the wheel, turn the car off and have the papers ready. I did get a break for speeding when I first moved to Florida but my insurance had expired. My bad for not getting on it sooner.
Anyways, if your caught with no insurance here they revoke your license, it is about $250 to have it reinstated. The worst is you need an SR-22 for insurance like your a drunk. My insurance went from $80 a month to two hundred and you have to pay six months in advance. While I can afford that many people around here make $10. It turns that person into nearly unemployable not being able to drive. This an example of the FIRE industries lobbying influence which is now completely out of control.
Yes, let's not just imprison innocent people, let's murder them.
It's old, I'm sure there will ultimately be more....
http://madamenoire.com/73840/exonerated-after-execution-12-men-and-one-woman-found-innocent-after-being-put-to-death/
Well...It is easier that way.
Opt for expedience. Let God sort them out.
Actually, we have the mafia running the entire show. The whole entire so-called "Legal system" is a pure Godfather scenario.
Why pretend it's different?
You are an idiot. We have a large prison population because we have defined exercising liberty as criminal behavior. We have a large prison population because teh inmates and their familes are farmed for wealth by the crony contractors and because it provides jobs for the bailiffs, judges, correctional officers, and attorney's who support the crooked system.
I understand if you are one of the innocent... now look at the millions convicted and THE FEW done so wrongly. Sounds like they get it right 99.99 percent of the time. so how is that a failed system?
I can tell you are unfamiliar with how our legal system works. In many jurisdictions, DAs will pile felony charges on a person even when there is no probable cause, then come on like they're the meanest motherfucker on the planet and brow beat them into a plea deal for lesser charges. How are you going to react when your choice is to risk 25 years in the poke vs 2 years probation? I guarantee that a lot more than 0.01% of the prison population is innocent. Another issue is that people are put in jail for shit that shouldn't even be a crime to begin with.
This is simply the result of an adversarial legal system... think of it like a negotiation... you don't start out where you want to end. Further, in the event that you fail to mount a viable defense, then you go to jail for the excessive charges... so long as there are two able-bodied fighters on each side, the system works great... many of the injustices in the legal system are simply because one side lays down.
I agree on the advesarial part. The problem is that the DAs are much more able to make the average suspect think that they are holding all of the cards than vise versa. DAs are starting with an advantage here.
I won't lay down.
Well, if you didn't commit a crime, then I'm not sure why you would be worried about any supposed cards...
Where did you get the 99.9% stat that you are parrot like its fact.
i have no clue where he got that, but I can say that ~25% of the people that the innocence project have had their convictions overturned via DNA evidence confessed to crimes that they did not commit.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/causes-wrongful-conviction/false-confess...
Look up the Reid Technique. Fucking mind games. If you are being interrogated, don't let them be buddy buddy with you. At all. Set the tone. A female interrogator? Stare at her face. Make it obvious. If she asks about it, say that she needs to wash her face. If she asks why, tell her that it's because she's got "BITCH" written all over it. Prepare for the beating and the civil rights lawsuit. If she goes and washes her face before asking, LOL during the ass kicking that you'll receive.
Pulled it out of his ass through his mouth.
<<In courtroom thrillers like 12 Angry Men and To Kill a Mockingbird, justice is served in the end because someone—whether it’s Juror #8 or Atticus Finch—chooses to stand on principle and challenge wrongdoing, and truth wins.>>
In 12 Angry Men -- if it had been non-fiction -- they would have most likely acquitted a guilty youth. Henry Fonda's character dismantles a very strong circumstantial case, one circumstance at a time. But TAKEN TOGETHER, that case is in fact very strong. It would mean impeaching BOTH witness, AND the kid didn't mean it when he threatened to kill his father (personally, I've never threatened to kill anyone let alone my family members, not as common as the film treats it), AND the kid lost his knife the very same day his father was found with that kind of knife (sure, a knife you could buy elsewhere), AND the kid had VERY BAD amnesia about the main feature he watched (the juror who couldn't remember someone acting in a second film means nothing), AND that NOBODY ELSE with means amd motive for that very same random time and place could be found. The film showed the jury misjudging a very strong circumstantial case. This kid was either the world's unluckiest guy -- or he did it, and got off. It's a good film to show the power of persuasion but I think it should also show the injustice of throwing out a strong CUMULATIVE circumstantial case. Anatomy of a Murder is a much better example of a courtroom drama, and far less simplistic.
<<Indeed, while Obama placed the responsibility for reform squarely in the hands of prosecutors, judges and police, he failed to acknowledge that they bear the burden of our failed justice system, along with the legislatures and corporations who have worked with them to create an environment that is hostile to the rights of the accused.>>
Let alone that the accused whether guilty or not bears all the consequences of the trial (time, besmirched reputation, stress, often costs). While the state usually bears NO consequences for any amount of frivolous prosecution. It costs the state nothing but easily-printed money to accuse whomever they want whenever they want. It may cost the accused most of what they have just to try to get their life back.
<<As I document in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we’re operating in a new paradigm where the citizenry are presumed guilty and treated as suspects, our movements tracked, our communications monitored, our property seized and searched, our bodily integrity disregarded, and our inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” rendered insignificant when measured against the government’s priorities. Every American is now in jeopardy of being targeted and punished for a crime he did not commit thanks to an overabundance of arcane laws. Making matters worse, by allowing government agents to operate above the law, immune from wrongdoing, we have created a situation in which the law is one-sided and top-down, used as a hammer to oppress the populace, while useless in protecting us against government abuse.>>
Zero Hedge featured an article last month by John Whitehead, which points out that Americans now live in a prison without walls, essentially run the same as a minimum-security prison.
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commen...
<<Add to the mix a profit-driven system of incarceration in which state and federal governments agree to keep the jails full in exchange for having private corporations run the prisons, and you will find the only word to describe such a state of abject corruption is “evil.”>>
The main problem, right there. How can the state possibly be considered arm's length when it has a clear conflict of interest, in sponsoring a profit motive for one side? With this motive, the state loses even the pretence of impartiality.
<<How else do you explain a system that allows police officers to shoot first and ask questions later, without any real consequences for their misdeeds?>>
I see no other option than to discard prosecutorial immunity.
<<America no longer operates under a system of justice characterized by due process, an assumption of innocence, probable cause, and clear prohibitions on government overreach and police abuse. Instead, our courts of justice have been transformed into courts of order, advocating for the government’s interests, rather than championing the rights of the citizenry, as enshrined in the Constitution.>>
Very well stated, "courts of order". See legalman's excellent articles examining the corruption of the legal system, starting with these:
http://www.thetruthaboutthelaw.com/they-intentionally-build-a-form-of-ty...
http://www.thetruthaboutthelaw.com/allowing-a-5-to-4-s-ct-decision-to-im...
http://www.thetruthaboutthelaw.com/the-supreme-court-is-there-to-make-st...
http://www.thetruthaboutthelaw.com/ignorance-of-the-law-should-be-an-exc...
http://www.thetruthaboutthelaw.com/i-know-my-rights-i-demand-a-jury-trial
Legalman asks, Why do lower courts need 100% jury agreement, but the Supreme Court gets to disagree and settle law for 360 million people by a vote of 5-4? Which indicates that reasonable people, including trained judges, may disagree about the law -- then how is a regular person supposed to know and follow it so well? I agree.
<<Without courts willing to uphold the Constitution’s provisions when government officials disregard them, and a citizenry knowledgeable enough to be outraged when those provisions are undermined, the Constitution provides little protection against the police state.>>
How many people know that the Constitution does not apply in a contract situation, since contracts overrule (waive) rights? How many further know that you are nearly always in a CONTRACT situation, when you 1) open and use a bank account; 2) buy a car or a house with financing; 3) use or rely on the police or the court system; 4) use the fiat money system; 5) apply for and use a social security or social insurance or tax file number; 6) file your taxes?
Contract law, and a system of invisible contracts, governs nearly everything we do in the 'west'. This is by design, so that our rights do not apply and the law governing us is contract, not tort, law.
Oh fuck the stupid "law" already.
We get no "protection" whatsoever. Stop the bullshit. Stop the lying.
Wow, those are like 3 or 4 bombastic points in one post.
Here's some Florida style justice for you. Life without parole for burglary.
http://www.businessinsider.com/joel-diagles-mandatory-minimum-life-sente...
something else all you pot head ZHers need to understand is that not every person in prison for "drugs" is in prison for drugs. that was what the cops could get proof of, like capone when to jail for taxes not bootlegging. don't have enough for the murder charge, put a quick three drug felonies on the person and away they go. Murderer off the street. but all you see is the drug charge and not the reasoning behind it cause so many of you are pot heads
OJ Simpson agrees.
I've only tried pot once, and the statute of limitations has long since expired. So that argument doesn't fly with me. Legalize drugs. The war on drugs creates a risk premium on drugs that dealers get to charge. The amounts of currency are so large in those black markets that people are going to figurer that they're already violating one set of laws, why not another? Somebody starts muscling in on your market? Violence can solve that! A lot of gang violence is centered around drugs. Get rid of the war on drugs and the profit motive will go away. It should also be pointed out that Al Capone was given the opportunity to become as rich and powerful as he became because of prohibition.
Making one behavior illegal to curb another behavior is another way to become a police state. Remember, you're a criminal, as are we all.
Red eyes at morning, sailor, take warning.
If the criminal justice system .... just had to deal with bad white people .... the system would be smaller and more effective .... however, the system has to deal with unimagined levels of crimminality .... and is overwhelmed .... so, don't forget to blame the crimminals !
So are you taking about bankers or road pirates?
I think your 99% right if the top .001% would put the money back in the system.
So real jobs that pay came back to U$A..
Who wants to steal when they have plenty to spend except a banker?
It's CUNTS like you Monetas that allow this System to keep dishing out any shit it wants. In fact i'd rather hurt and hear fuckers like you squeal than any banker or politician whose got skin in the game.
I think you're tongue in cheek on this post, no? No open reference to all the innocent unarmed black teens being snuffed out by the Man for eating skittles and the like? Sarc on in spades...
Smashing. Barry and the MIC kill at will and are given Cash & Peace Prizes & Medals. Moral of the story should be if you get caught, kill at least one of the arresting officers.
WTF, dude. Your understanding of the moral of the story is to kill someone? Woa, mister either you got the wrong story or you got the wrong understanding of the moral of the story.
I don't often agree with him, but I presume he's asserting that when a society corners its citizens who have an honest and justifiable desire to defend their rights, but have no recourse but the ultimate act of resistance, then so be it. I agree that that time is long overdue.
Yes falconflight you're not my cup of tea either but you're spot on there.
You'll know we're there when the neighbors come out to back him up.
Iraqis seemed to have found a solution: Use your time in prison to Organize Bitchez!
ISIS leader says US prisons in Iraq led to creation of terrorist organization
https://www.rt.com/news/213843-isis-creation-prison-iraq/
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story
WTF what dude?
Justice is a word used to describe the State's poor substitute for revenge. It removes agency from the individual and makes us helpless children of an abusive parent. It takes away our humanity.
As a corollary, "deserve" should not be a part of a criminal justice system.
Not the real issue economic jackboots instituted by corrupt politicians and there handlers..http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/scotus/
You know the nation is fucked when you go to a courtroom for theater whilst going to a gun shop for justice.
Are American prosecutors that much better? No… it is because of the plea bargain, a system of bullying and intimidation by government lawyers for which they ‘would be disbarred in most other serious countries….’”
I think this is wrong. American prosecutors are better because they usually have a pretty good case with forensic evidence. Police coercion does not produce the result that the justice system demands, so it is not part of our system. If any police think that bullying, intimidation and coercion will serve justice, then they need to experience justice.
Hi neil you don't sound like a bad lad but have any of your friends advised you to replace neil with green?
Maybe i was a little brutal with my considered opinion of ' if you're going down take as many down with you ' conviction. I mean if you're up for murder it should at least be a judge or higher POS.
It's just that in terms of the 'old bill' it irks me that i'm paying taxes for them to go about inflicting pain and suffering on ordinary people while turning a blind eye to their master's Crimes.
LOLOL!
Police intimidation is quite present. Police are allowed to show you false evidence and claim that it is actual evidence against you to get you to talk. If they don't think that anybody is looking, many will tune people up. They'll keep them for 72 hours under stressful conditions to get them to talk. In 72 hours, I could make a lot of people fess up to doing things that they didn't do, without using an amount of physical force that could be considered excessive. DAs are notorious for piling felony charges on people for which the evidence does not exist and then use that as leverage force a plea deal. I've watched that happen where I got to see the totality of the evidence, including some that was being ignored by both the police and the DA, and it amounted to a trial that would have been an embarrasment to the DA. But, one of the witnesses lit the other witness on fire, so that ended that. Some departments have policies that for domestic violence calls, somebody, almost always the male, is going to jail no matter what the facts and the situation are when they get there. I know somebody that wound up calling the cops on his wife, she admitted to the cops that she pushed him and he didn't touch her and they still arrested him and didn't drop the case until the day of trial. If you think the cops generally do investigations like you see on CSI, you will be disappointed more often than not.
What bullshit. Most prosecutors I have seen are stupid fucks notable only for their lack of both intelligence and ethics. Every prosecutor uses bullying and coercion to avoid having to prove their case. No victim? Fine, we will go for the 40 year charge unless you admit to this shit that never happened and take a 3 year sentence.
As for forensic evidence you had the FBI lab tech coming into court and sweraring that a dog's hair was hiuman and belonged to the defendant. Wel, who wouldn't believe the FBI? Guilty verdict!
Read up on a term now being used quite a bit "evidence based sentencing"...this is happening and it's scary as it's another form of "scoring' if you will. This is like grading on the curve if you will as sentencing uses other people's sentences to determine how much time one will serve.