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COMMONWEALTH vs GEORGE HOPKINS 10-23-19


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On 6/29/2020 at 3:48 PM, MikeD said:

The speedy trial term applies to protecting the rights of the accused, not the victim(s). 
 

 

I understand that, wasn’t born yesterday 

however everyone deserves “equal treatment under the law” even victims 

 

 

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3 hours ago, George Dixon said:

I understand that, wasn’t born yesterday 

however everyone deserves “equal treatment under the law” even victims 

 

 

I know what you mean, but for good or bad, our legal system does not work that way.

And as I know you understand, but just for general commentary here....

Once an accused is indicted, the case becomes the Government versus the accused. The victim is not named at all. That's why the title of the thread is what it is.

 

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8 hours ago, George Dixon said:

It’s been years just like the Cosby one was before the virus 

yes but this was originally due in march

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22 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

yes but this was originally due in march

You certainly are the master of all things obvious 

let me make this crystal clear I do not feel it should take two years for the trial!!!! Even without the Covid-19 delay tactic after another 

 

six months is plenty of time to organize the defense (if one exist)

Edited by George Dixon
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6 hours ago, George Dixon said:

You certainly are the master of all things obvious 

let me make this crystal clear I do not feel it should take two years for the trial!!!! Even without the Covid-19 delay tactic after another 

 

six months is plenty of time to organize the defense (if one exist)

i don't disagree. forgive me for trying to use facts as they stand and not dumping philosophy or views into this. now back to your regular DCP legal expert chatter only interrupted by the medical degree #### swinging

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On 7/1/2020 at 6:09 PM, George Dixon said:

let me make this crystal clear I do not feel it should take two years for the trial!!!! Even without the Covid-19 delay tactic after another 

six months is plenty of time to organize the defense (if one exist)

As I said before, I agree with you that the wheels of justice move too slowly, but I think the only solution is to pour a lot more money into the judiciary, so that the system isn't overtaxed and can work expeditiously to resolve matters both for the victims and for the accused: it's no good if we have a system that moves quickly but punishes the innocent. Almost everyone here seems to agree about Hopkins, but from time to time, there are people wrongly accused of sexual assault, and the last thing we should want is for them to wrongly go to jail.

But as an example of how slowly cases move, I was reminded of your post today when I read something about the Bernie Madoff investment scandal, the famous fraud case involving roughly a billion dollars that came to light in 2008. One of Madoff's alleged co-conspirators, Frank Avellino, is still fighting the case against him, 12 years later.

Or consider a big decision announced recently by the Supreme Court: Aimee Stephens, a funeral director in Detroit, was fired in 2014, for reasons that Ms. Stephens claimed were discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Two years later, the District court ruled against her. She appealed. Two years after that, the Appeals court ruled in her favor. Her employer appealed. And just three weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in her favor. It took six years just to resolve an employment case, but at least it's a victory for Ms. Stephens, right?

Well no. She died of cancer in May.

Edit: And another Supreme Court decision, announced just today, actually pertains to a crime related in kind (if not degree) to that for which Hopkins has been charged. A man named Jimcy McGirt was convicted in 1996 by an Oklahoma court of having raped a four-year-old girl. He is serving a life sentence. In 2017, based on an Appeals court ruling on a different case, McGirt appealed his conviction on the grounds that because he is an enrolled member of an Indian tribe, and because his crime happened on land ceded to an Indian tribe in the 1830s and never subsequently ceded to the state of Oklahoma (although much of it was since purchased by others), he should have been tried in a federal court not a state court. And the Supreme Court today agreed, in a 5-4 decision that split along non-partisan but not unexpected lines.

What has people talking about the case today is the fact that this may put a large chunk of Oklahoma, including most of Tulsa, under federal law as pertains to crimes committed by Native Americans. A number of other convictions may have to be set aside and retried. But what occurs to me pertinent to this discussion is that McGirt's victim may now have to go through a new trial for something that he did to her more than 24 years ago.

 

Edited by N.E. Brigand
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On 7/2/2020 at 10:54 AM, IllianaLancerContra said:

Stating the obvious — 11 months until June...

Hurry J--- uh, January? (When there may be a vaccine?)

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1 hour ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Hurry J--- uh, January? (When there may be a vaccine?)

There will be a vaccine by Jan 21.  The question is 'How effective will it be?'  

Perhaps we should all contact our Congressional representatives & have them pass a law that all Drum Corps members, staff, & fans are to be in the first group to be vaccinated so we can have a 2021 season.  & while they're at it, add an amendment that states 'Any school that receives federal funds must allow Drum Corps to use their facilities in the summer months.'

 

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