schuster@Shasta.ARPA (Jay Schuster) (03/19/86)
Seven months ago my best friend was raped. The trial, initially scheduled for the end of February, was completed yesterday. The verdict was a happy one: they got the guy for second degree assault, second degree rape, and tampering with a witness. Ignoring the traumas of the trial and pretrial, like the guy was out on bail for the past seven months and raped another guy, while he was out he threatened Tom (that's where the tampering with a witness came from), the first judge scheduled to hear the case had previously dismissed a domestic violence case (the woman may not be able to see out of one eye anymore) saying "This kind of thing happens between black couples all the time" (the prosecutor had to come out, and go out on a limb, but they got that judge dismissed) and the fact that Tom was on the stand for five hours, when the rapist was on the stand for 40 minutes; what bothers the hell out of me is that for these three charges, he can only be put away for 24-34 months. Months. Tom was the first person to press charges, so technically it is a "first" offense, though were it not for Tom, nobody else would be pressing charges (another guy he's raped, people who have had guns pulled on them by him at bars...). Tom was *raped* and in the hospital for weeks. And this guy only goes to jail for two years? I am shocked. Since other people will be pressing charges, hopefully he won't be out of jail for a while. But even if he is sentenced for 34 months, what does that mean with regards to when he is eligible for parole? -- Jay schuster@su-pescadero.arpa ...!decwrl!shasta!schuster