A porn trap to steer clear of

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An unbiased opinion

I am appalled at half the feedbacks on this thread which mirror the ignorant attitudes that ruined Jack's life in the first place. Half of the posters condemned him as "guilty of viewing porn at work" without thoroughly reading the article or knowing all the facts. God help us all if you're ever selected for jury duty.

I've been working personally with Jack for some time now, trying to assist him in clearing his name. His trial was a matter of gross incompetence...from the prosecters, the judge, the jury, and most of all, his lawyer.

In short, here is Jack's story: Jack purchased a computer on eBay. In a matter of a couple of weeks after the purchase, his employer was contacted by the police, requesting that his work computer be confiscated because his home computer was being monitored for child pornography downloading. His work computer sat in HR for a few weeks while his home computer was confiscated by the police. It should be noted here, that hte head female employee of HR was infuriated with Jack at being under suspicion of viewing child porn and branded him "guilty" immediately. What was found on his home computer were "deleted spaces" on the hard drive that had previously contained child pornography. A computer he had owned for only a couple of weeks, purchased on eBay. What was found on his work computer were several images of child pornography.

Jack was advised by his lawyer to plead guilty for a lesser sentence, his lawyer stating that if he pleaded not guilty, he would probably face a long-term jail sentence and heavy fines instead of minor jail time and probation.

At no time in his trial were dates of the deleted files on his home PC drive brought up, even though he had only owned the used PC a couple of weeks. At no time were the dates of the files on his work computer brought up, which had resided in the HR office for a few weeks. At no time was it brought up how long the police had been monitoring the PC that Jack had purchased on eBay.

Jack had previously suffered browser hijackings and spyware on his home PC, and it had been used by his son. Another angle his lawyer mentioned to Jack was that if he didn't plead guilty, his son would also be implicated, as he had also used the PC.

It's not my place to say whether Jack is truly innocent or truly guilty. But before any of you automatically brand him as guilty, or assume that he was actually viewing child porn on a work computer, ask yourself these questions:

1. Would you view US law differently if you were a new immigrant to this country instead of a natural born citizen?
2. Would you follow the advice of your lawyer even if it meant pleading quilty if he told you that you would rot in jail if you didn't?
3. Why wasn't the dates of the downloaded files presented in court?
4. Would you consider a computer which was accessable by several people over a few weeks time (residing in the HR office) possibly contaminated evidence, especially of one of those people really had it in for you?
5. Why would a person carefully delete all evidence of child pornography on his home computer but leave images on his work computer?
6. Would you plead guilty if your lawyer informed you that if you didn't, your son would be implicated in a crime?

And so, if nothing else, I believe that Jack deserves a proper retrial. There should be expert computer tech testimony, with download dates provided. The purchase date of his home PC on eBay should be provided (which was not in the first trial). His work PC should be inadmissable due to the fact that it was accessable by several people over a period of weeks and possibly contaminated evidence, or at the very least, the downloaded images should have accompanying dates to show whether they were downloaded before or after his work computer was confiscated by HR. This was not done at the first trial.

And lastly, all of you who responded with an assumption that Jack was viewing porn at work, do us all a favor and decline from jury duty if you're ever called for it, on the basis that you can't make an unbiased opinion or read and comprehend the English language.

Posted by: master of illusion   Posted on: 09/07/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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