Outrageous Injustice

[GrandeDavid]

Still in Ionia Prison....6 years. Maybe Michigan is a little more lenient.

In Michigan, too!!! My freaking lord!

[Kori Ellis]

Now only if he were a) a member of the Duke lacrosse team and rich beyond measure, or b) a minority stand-out athlete, ESPN or the equivalent would have covered the story.

Alas, hes just Joe Blow, in prison.

Sorry about your friend (acquaintance?).

But it's not ESPN's job to cover stories like this about every person in the situation. Of course they wrote this article because he's a stand-out athlete - they are a sports network.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

This is another of the more infuriating statements in this article.

In Barker's eyes, Wilson should have taken the same plea agreement as the others. Maintaining innocence in the face of the crushing wheels of justice is the ultimate act of vanity, he believes.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Now only if he were a) a member of the Duke lacrosse team and rich beyond measure, or b) a minority stand-out athlete, ESPN or the equivalent would have covered the story.

Alas, hes just Joe Blow, in prison.

Have you tried your local equivalents?

There have got to be others in the same situation as your friend.

But one big difference between your friend's case (from your statement) and the Wilson case is the girl says she was raped. In Wilson's case, there seems to be nobody but the prosecutor (and likely the DA, too) who believes Wilson deserves to be in jail.

Has the girl in your friend's case made statements to the contrary of what she said during her trial?

[AlamoSpursFan]

I'm surprised nobody's posted this yet.

http://www.wilsonappeal.com/index.php

What happened to this young man is a VERY disturbing miscarriage of justice.

[ShoogarBear]

As with any case, there are alot of details, so I will spare them. Point is, he was 17, she was 15. It was consensual sex (was there a BJ? no idea).

After he didnt call her again, she cried foul. Police, charged, notified, turned himself in, bond, trial. Prosecution sought 2nd degree CSC (punishable up to 25, if I remember). Its a typical "my word against yours"....shes a girl, hes a guy. She can turn on the tears at will....you know the story. Father was all fire and brimstone in the deposition stage, yadayada.

Maybe it was his lawyer, but I agreed as well. He was going to lose, whether he was guilty or not. Take the plea. Plead down to 4th degree (which doesnt put you on the sex offender list, thank God), but got maximum sentence. 6 years. Terms of plea were without appealing.

In reality, he probably wont serve all 6. He is into his 2nd year and will probably be parolled very soon (overpopulation is a ). He is in the "minimum security" equivalent of the prison, so its pretty lax (as far as prison goes).

She laughed. I will see her in .

Well, so then this is not at all comparable. Falsely or not, the woman/girl was bringing charges, which ups the ante tremendously.

In Wilson's case, the female admitted it was consensual.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Without getting specific, being a minority has nothing to do with this. I know a person personally who had the exact same thing happen to them. 4th degree CSC.

Why did she "turn on the tears" if it's the "exact same thing"?

Don't fault the media in its coverage here - there are striking differences in the cases from what you've posted so far.

[AlamoSpursFan]

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Lega...1693362&page=1

[Kori Ellis]

This is another of the more infuriating statements in this article.

Yes, that pisses me off too. It doesn't sound like he didn't accept the plea out of vanity at all.

Five of the boys accepted plea deals, but Wilson — the only one without a police record — held out.

Today Wilson remains as steadfast as ever about not taking the deal that would have reduced his sentence by half.

"It's all about doing what's right," he said. "And what's right is right, and what's wrong is wrong. And I'm just standing up for what I believe in."

[AlamoSpursFan]

Yes, that pisses me off too. It doesn't sound like he didn't accept the plea out of vanity at all.

If I read the article correctly, had he accepted the plea he would have had to move out of his house because of his little sister.

That's effed up. (Like the rest of the story isn't...)

[dougp]

This sucks for him - but I find it funny that he went to jail for a BJ and his attorney is named BJ.

[TDMVPDPOY]

dont alot of hi-schoolers have sex and oral ....this happens every n day, you dont see many clowns gettin caught....

[easjer]

Kori nailed it. ing ridiculous that a boy can receive a consenual blow job from a girl two years his junior and go to jail for ten years, but if he'd ed her instead, it's no big deal.

Completely outrageous. I'm flabbergasted.

[101A]

Governor should pardon him.

Looked at who the governor is; oh.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Governor should pardon him.

Looked at who the governor is; oh.

They talk last-ditch plans, including a cons utional amendment returning pardon power to the governor.

[Extra Stout]

Y'see, down yonder in this here Douglas Coun'ny, ther'r con-see-kwen-sez for that there moral terp-ee-tude. We're a good Christian ker-munity 'round here. Y'git caw-it wit'yer pants 'round yer ankles an' a harlot serv-sen ya, w'gonna lock y'up. Gotta take yer med-sen. 'Spesh-ly them darkies.

[Spurminator]

De able.

[Spurminator]

http://www.wilsonappeal.com/index.php

And more fun reading, if you want to be pissed off for the rest of the day...

http://forums.go.com/abcnews/Primeti...hreadID=321374

[1369]

Old news (but still just as tragic). HBO "Real Sports" did this story in 2004 or 2005.

[Extra Stout]

Crackers are crackers. 100 years ago, after singing hymns at the Baptist church on Sunday, the nice folks in Douglas County would have gotten their picnic baskets, headed down to the courthouse lawn, and watched gleefully as some men in white sheets barged into the jail, extracted the black man, strung him up in the air naked, sliced off his genitals, and stuffed them down his throat for receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old white girl.

That is what they really would like to see happen. But, in this day and age they can't get away with that, so the best they can do is have him sent to prison for 10 years.

If the DA's office made a motion to vacate the conviction, Mr. Barker would wake up one evening to find a burning cross on his lawn, and he might be taken for a ride with some folks to explain to him what happens to elected officials who don't respect the order of things.

Crackers are crackers.

[Spurminator]

Old news

Sad but true. I can't believe it took three years for this to be a headline story.

Maybe if Al Sharpton wasn't so busy blackmailing corporations into giving money to his rich friends, he could have used his clout to draw attention to this TRUE injustice.

But now that it's making news I'm sure he'll find a way to exploit it for camera time.


Also, major props to Wilson's lawyer.

[timvp]

As with any case, there are alot of details, so I will spare them. Point is, he was 17, she was 15. It was consensual sex (was there a BJ? no idea).

After he didnt call her again, she cried foul. Police, charged, notified, turned himself in, bond, trial. Prosecution sought 2nd degree CSC (punishable up to 25, if I remember). Its a typical "my word against yours"....shes a girl, hes a guy. She can turn on the tears at will....you know the story. Father was all fire and brimstone in the deposition stage, yadayada.

Maybe it was his lawyer, but I agreed as well. He was going to lose, whether he was guilty or not. Take the plea. Plead down to 4th degree (which doesnt put you on the sex offender list, thank God), but got maximum sentence. 6 years. Terms of plea were without appealing.

In reality, he probably wont serve all 6. He is into his 2nd year and will probably be parolled very soon (overpopulation is a ). He is in the "minimum security" equivalent of the prison, so its pretty lax (as far as prison goes).

She laughed. I will see her in .

Uh, that's nowhere close to the same thing. Getting six years for raping a 15 year old is pretty understandable.

Getting 10 years in this case isn't.

[timvp]

Old news (but still just as tragic). HBO "Real Sports" did this story in 2004 or 2005.

That was a different case.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Uh, that's nowhere close to the same thing. Getting six years for raping a 15 year old is pretty understandable.

Getting 10 years in this case isn't.

Nope. Media's fault.

[1369]

That was a different case.

You're right, a look at "Real Sports" site shows it was Marcus Dixon, but it was still in Georgia.

The Georgia Supreme Court recently freed him.