Janklow trial starts today

[lancew]

I'm sure a lot of us will be keeping an eye on this- I will be curious to see what happens here.

On edit: was discussing this with a lawyer I know, and though this type of thing is outside of his specialty he believes Janklow will probably not be found guilty on the manslaughter count.

Even without counting the convenient (and previously unknown) diabetes, he believes that Janklow will defend the manslaughter by arguing that it would not have been a fatality if Scott had been wearing a helmet or been in a car. Yes, they still apparently use that one.

[Cliffy777]

but from what I have read about this case, and the driving history of the %^&*$#, I hope they nail his ass to the wall. That would be great "logic" for hitting a pedestrian wouldn't it? Gee - if he wasn't walking there or if he was in a tank, then I wouldn't have killed him.
The &^*%( ran through something telling him to stop - what the ^&%* difference should it make what defense he uses?
Boy, am I *&^%$ing mad about this.

[James O]

From what I've read and heard it certainly does sound as if Janklow believes, that as a congressman / governor, the motor vehicle laws do not apply to him. The fact that he is throwing out this diabetes defense makes it more disgusting (Based on his previous driving history). If he doesn't come clean and admit his guilt I hope they nail this SOB to the wall.

James O

[Cliffy777]

literally. The jury begins deliberation today. We can only pray that they find the man guilty. A woman testified that he ran the same stop sign a year ago and almost nailed her - the only reason she didn't press charges was because he was the gov at the time.

[lancew]

You'd think that being a politician, the jerk would at least be a better liar- his original story was that he had to swerve to avoid a "white car" which forced him to run the stop (no idea why that would force him to run a stop sign, but...). No witnesses to any white car, or signs of one anywhere.

Now it's a diabetic seizure- though he showed no signs of a medical event on the scene and was examined by a paramedic who is himself diabetic.

Maybe he needs to hire OJ to track down the person who is really at fault?

[Ted]

Guilty all four counts, sentencing in January.

[Cliffy777]

that he wasn't able to hire the Teddy Kennedy Defense Team or they probably would have gotten him off. (Johnny Cochran would not have played well out there.)
Now that the jury did their job, we can only hope the judge has some spine and will sentence the $%#@ as if he was a "regular Joe" who committed manslaughter with a vehicle.

[Big Blue]

I was pleasantly surprised by the verdict & echo the sentiments hoping they nail his arse to the wall.

Anyone else surprised?

[cruisin]

Surprised, but very pleased with the verdict. I only wish that someone would have had the cojones to put the jerk away before he killed someone. This should serve as a wake up call to do more with reckless and drunk drivers early on rather than waiting until they take the life of someone else. That, of course would be in a perfect world--which we don't live in. I hope they nail him with maximum sentences and fines. Also would like to see the family of the victim get something from this jerk. Maybe a few mil--it won't bring him back, but it might make life without him a little better for them.

[1969 R90/2 US]

The prosecutor did a great job in constantly reminding the jury that Janklow had a demonstrable history of putting the value of his time above the safety of others.