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Teen faces prison after sex doll prank goes awry (Prosecutors gone wild, kid faces 8 years prison)
WSVM ^ | 07/06/2011 | AP News

Posted on 07/06/2011 2:09:59 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - When 18-year-old Tyell Morton put a blow-up sex doll in a bathroom stall on the last day of school, he didn't expect school officials to call a bomb squad or that he'd be facing up to eight years in prison and a possible felony record.

The senior prank gone awry has raised questions of race, prosecutorial zeal and the post-Columbine mindset in a small Indiana town and around the country, The Indianapolis Star reported in its Tuesday editions.

Legal experts question the appropriateness of the charges against Morton, and law professor Jonathan Turley at George Washington University posed a wider question about Morton's case on his legal blog.

"The question is what type of society we are creating when our children have to fear that a prank (could) lead them to jail for almost a decade. What type of citizens are we creating who fear the arbitrary use of criminal charges by their government?"

(Excerpt) Read more at wsmv.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: doll; insanity; johnewilliams; jonathanturley; philipjcaviness; police; prank; rapeofliberty; schools; tyellmorton; zerotolerance
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To: All
People gotta get a grip!

He is 18 years old.
He prolly wasn't even born when the rag heads bombed the Trade Center.
He was only 8 when the towers and Pentagon were attacked.

All this “...in a post 9/11 world” rationale is just an excuse to act idiotically under the guise of security.

61 posted on 07/06/2011 3:04:24 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

put a blow-up sex doll in a bathroom stall

Was the doll male or female and in which restroom stall was it placed?


62 posted on 07/06/2011 3:05:36 PM PDT by Joan Kerrey
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Jail time is horrid, but the real problem is the felony charges. Once you are a felon, it ruins your life.

You can’t adopt. You can’t vote. It comes up as a red flag on your applications.

“I became a felon for putting a doll in a restroom”. That is not the way this country was imagined by the founders.

It was, however, imagined that way by George Orwell.


63 posted on 07/06/2011 3:07:16 PM PDT by I still care (I miss my friends, bagels, and the NYC skyline - but not the taxes. I love the South.)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Not to worry. He’s a light skinned black so, according to the recent Villanova study, he’ll get a lighter sentence.


64 posted on 07/06/2011 3:17:42 PM PDT by Krankor (I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in.)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour
What type of citizens are we creating who fear the arbitrary use of criminal charges by their government?"

The exact type the Socialists/Communists want. A collection of serfs rather than citizens who can be told what to do and when to do it without the politicians fear of backlash.

If you keep people on their heels, worrying whether or not they are going to be prosecuted and jailed, then they cannot step forward and take control over their lives and their country as free people.

65 posted on 07/06/2011 3:22:06 PM PDT by OldMissileer (Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, PK. Winners of the Cold War)
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To: momtothree

Me too.

The old bag of burning dog poop on the front porch trick.....


66 posted on 07/06/2011 3:24:47 PM PDT by Emperor Palpatine (Can you afford to board the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?)
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To: OldMissileer
"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
67 posted on 07/06/2011 3:25:26 PM PDT by Roccus
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
If he doesn't want the kid to spend time in jail then what is the purpose of filing felony charges against him?

To keep him from ever owning a firearm and ensuring he can keep his freedom and liberties. Also to make sure he can be jailed for any minor infraction and never hold a decent job so to keep him afraid and compliant for the rest of his life.

68 posted on 07/06/2011 3:26:52 PM PDT by OldMissileer (Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, PK. Winners of the Cold War)
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To: PapaBear3625

So true. Sometimes, if you didn’t have a lawyer, you can go back and do a “Motion for Appropriate Relief” and change your plea and work out something where you would not have a conviction. It is sad that one mistake (and think of all those who just never got caught) can ruin your life, but it sure can.


69 posted on 07/06/2011 3:27:14 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: PapaBear3625

So true. Sometimes, if you didn’t have a lawyer, you can go back and do a “Motion for Appropriate Relief” and change your plea and work out something where you would not have a conviction. It is sad that one mistake (and think of all those who just never got caught) can ruin your life, but it sure can.


70 posted on 07/06/2011 3:27:14 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: dangus

Yeah they just want him to have a felony conviction on his record so the state can limit his freedom for his entire life.

I am not exactly sure how they can charge him with anything. It was legit for him to be at his school. He took something in. Out of caution they called the cops because they could not identify him. Everytime the cops are called does not require someone be charged PARTICUALRY IF NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED.


71 posted on 07/06/2011 3:29:41 PM PDT by JLS (How to turn a recession into a depression: elect a Dem president with a big majorities in Congress)
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To: MissesBush

I think it would be wise to be careful about the Anthony case. Whether through prosecutorial incompentence or a true lack of evidence the jury did the right thing. The murder case against Anthony was not proved. All the prosecution proved was that the woman has a serious problem telling the truth. That does not mean she killed her child.

In the absense of any other info, I’m thinking the child’s drowning was an accident that Anthony may have tried to cover up. Sadly small children manage to put themselves in harm’s way all the time for many reasons that have nothing to do with parental negligence.

I can still remember the time I got hold of one my monther’s bobby pins and stuck it in an electrical outlet. I must have been three or four years old. I got a hell of a shock. But if it had killed me would my mom, a widow, have been criminally negligent? I don’t think so.

Now, if you want to talk about the Simpson case you would be right on the money.


72 posted on 07/06/2011 3:30:24 PM PDT by dools0007world (uestion)
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To: Lazamataz
I have been charged with many felonies, never convicted.

Right, Since no convictions, you don't have a felony record. My friend had a conviction where the plea bargain was no jail time, just probation. It still killed him on the job market.

73 posted on 07/06/2011 3:30:34 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("It is only when we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything" -- Fight Club)
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To: ilovesarah2012
What I think is happening is that the prosecutor wants a conviction on something. He wants to show a good record on convictions.

So the scenario he presents to the guy is "You can plea bargain to a lesser charge, or you can put me to the trouble of going to trial. If you go to trial, you might get off, or you might get sentenced to 8 years. Do you feel lucky, punk?"

74 posted on 07/06/2011 3:35:30 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 ("It is only when we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything" -- Fight Club)
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To: Emperor Palpatine

“Me too”

We must have been better at it since we were never caught. I am still giggling about the time one man was wearing bedroom slippers and did his stomping routine. The expletives were marvelous!! LOL!


75 posted on 07/06/2011 3:36:58 PM PDT by momtothree
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To: PapaBear3625

True. It isn’t about justice.


76 posted on 07/06/2011 3:37:52 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

We used to flush cherry bombs and M80’s down the tiolet’s in high school. Imagine if someone did that in todays world?


77 posted on 07/06/2011 3:43:36 PM PDT by freedomtrail (The Fourth Seal has been opened. Three more to go.)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Without a surveillance video we would have merely had a prank.

But with a surveillance video we have felony crime. So, we now have more information than we used to have and yet make an incredibly stupid spectacle out of it.

The school corporation in this case had just enough information to be dangerous. Less is more or is it more is less. It would be interesting to see what led them to put in surveillance cameras that are an incomplete solution .... or did they use the system, as it currently is, for a use it was not intended for - i.e. was this supposed to be used for a retrospective analysis. Or do they monitor the “campus” and when they see something they don’t intervene while whatever they see is in process. Either way, the kid isn’t the one with a dozen eggs on his face.


78 posted on 07/06/2011 3:48:34 PM PDT by gnawbone (Bureaucrats piss me off and I should know, I am one.)
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To: freedomtrail

Half the stuff we did growing up would land you in GITMO today...


79 posted on 07/06/2011 3:58:45 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour (With The Resistance...)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

“”I’m pretty comfortable with the charges that we’ve filed,” he said.”

Not for long, I’ll predict.


80 posted on 07/06/2011 4:02:02 PM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon freedom, it is essential to examine principles, Kill the EPA!!!)
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