On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:47:05 GMT, Palindrome wrote:
>> That and the other examples you gave have hopefully changed Sue's mind
>> about such convictions being a figment of the imagination, and that
>> perhaps I am not spouting as much nonsense as she obviously thought I
>> had been.
>I stand corrected.
>To be fair, ISTM that he was convicted of "Acting pervy on a beach".
>However, as the police and CPS couldn't find that offence (yet) on the
>books - they used the kp one.
Quite. And sometimes the "pervy" behaviour is not at all .ually
motivated, but the police assume it to be because they cannot imagine
any other explanation. Maybe the guy was playing with a new camera
and preferred to look at children through it than middle-aged
overweight adults. Surely it is not "pervy" to prefer looking at
children at play than adults doing nothing of interest?
>That prosecutors can introduce such entirely irrelvant (to the charge)
>"evidence" is beyond me. Gems such as the (lawful) possession of used
>knickers, (lawful) deletion of files, (lawful) unaltered pictures from
>published magazines. It is all reminiscent of "walking in a suspicious
>way" and "having a suspicious beard"..
>Juries should be asked to decide whether images are indecent or not
>based only on the images - not on the lawful but wierd/distasteful
>activities of the accused.
I have suggested before that juries should be given a pile of images
before the start of the trial before hearing any of the facts at all,
some of which are from the defendant, some of which are from previous
convictions (at all levels of indecency), and some of which are the
most indecent-looking images of children found in the photo albums of
police, judges and prosecution staff. The jury is told that the
images contain such a mixture, and are asked to place them in two
piles - "legal" and "illegal". If none of the defendant's images are
in the illegal pile, the trial stops right there and he is acquitted.
I'm not sure what should be done if images from the judge's photo
album are declared illegal though. Arrest the judge there and then?
--
Cynic
|