Posted on 05/31/2012 8:25:13 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
A retired Marine with medical disabilities now faces possibly the rest of his life (he is 57 with heart conditions and a history of strokes) in prison for killing a career criminal who was attacking him.
This retired Marine should be given the keys to the city for his military service and for fighting back and surviving a criminal attack, and further sparing Philly from any more predations by the now dead thug.
A travesty of justice.
So was he convicted by a jury or not?!? By the sound of it, he either accepted a plea deal (which was stupid) or was convicted in a bench trial (don’t think that can happen on charges that serious, bench trials are usually limited to traffic violations and minor offenses).
"Travesty" doesn't quite cut it in describing the injustice here.
No appeal?
Sounds like Philly is not going to be the place I retire to.....
So wouldn't unanswered questions lead to "reasonable doubt"? It would in my mind.
“A PHILADELPHIA JUDGE”
Answers all the questions.
It reads like it was a bench trial.
So Lowe's blood was up. He's supposed to be all calm and reasonable with a guy who chased him down, tried to beat him with a metal pipe, and was choking him before he stabbed him? If I were in that position and lucky enough to survive, I'd get in a few victory taunts, too. Besides, he can blame the extra stabs on Uncle Sam--it's his training.
This is Philadelphia, controlled by Democrats for over 50 years, where they have out-of-control crime and want to enact their own anti-firearm laws despite a state preemption of such ordinances.
Philadelphia has shown a hostility to anyone other than criminals.
a pox on that court.. what a travesty of justice.
"unanswered questions" == "reasonable doubt"
A judge ought to know that.
That was my first thought.
A terrible judge commits terrible verdicts.
Several years ago, I watched “Court TV” for a couple of months. It literally gave me the chills.
If I were an innocent person, I would be extremely frightened to go before an American Court.
If I were a guilty one, there are few things I would rather have than an American jury.
Judge Lerner’s bio ...
Hon. Benjamin Lerner
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia
Judge Lerner, originally appointed to the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County in 1996, was elected to his present term in 1999. In his current position, Judge Lerner is responsible for pre-trial hearings, including motions and scheduling, in all of the courts homicide cases. He also presides over non-jury homicide trials, degree of guilt hearings and decertification hearings. Immediately prior to coming to the bench, Judge Lerner was Of Counsel at the law firm of Dilworth, Paxson, LLP in Philadelphia where he concentrated his practice on litigation, with emphasis on white collar criminal defense and trial of complex civil cases in both federal and state courts. From 1975 through 1990, Judge Lerner served as Chief Defender of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. In that capacity, Judge Lerner represented criminal and juvenile defendants as well as child advocacy and mental health cases. From 1973 until 1975 Judge Lerner served as the Deputy Attorney General in the Pennsylvania Department of Justices Office of Criminal Law. Judge Lerner also clerked for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco immediately upon graduating from law school. A member of the Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure Rules Committee (1977-1986), the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (1980-1986), President of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (1983-1985), and the Philadelphia Bar Association Commission on Judicial Selection, Retention and Evaluation (1977-1990), Judge Lerner also spent time teaching Trial Advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. A recipient of numerous awards and honors including: the Philadelphia Bar Foundation Honorable Gerald F. Flood Memorial Award for distinguished Service to the Profession (1978); the Clara Shortridge Foltz Award for excellence in providing indigent defense services (1987); inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (October 1990) and the John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award (1990), Judge Lerner received his B.A., cum laude, from Brandeis University (1962) and his LL.B., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1965).
Is he somehow immune from the 6th Ammendment of the US Constitution, which states:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence
This DA needs to be stuffed through a hole in the ice.You're being too kind. I would say burnt at at a stake. On a low, slow, flame.
Judge Lerners bio ...
Hon. Benjamin Lerner
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia
There, fixed it.
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