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Brian Aitken was on Judge Jeanine Perro?s show
JamesRK
Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
Brian Aitken was on Judge Jeanine Perro's show on FOX News tonight. Brian Aitken is the young man who served two years of a seven year prison sentence for illegal possession of firearms in New Jersey without breaking a law.
He was convicted because the judge refused to let him offer a defense.
His sentence was commuted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and he was let out of prison with "time served". He is still a convicted felon.
Judge Perro said Governor Christie deserves credit for commuting the sentence.
By what stretch of the imagination does Governor Christie deserve any credit for anything? The man was convicted of something which wasn't illegal. He was refused a fair trial. Anything short of a full pardon and just compensation is unacceptable.
He was convicted because the judge refused to let him offer a defense.
His sentence was commuted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and he was let out of prison with "time served". He is still a convicted felon.
Judge Perro said Governor Christie deserves credit for commuting the sentence.
By what stretch of the imagination does Governor Christie deserve any credit for anything? The man was convicted of something which wasn't illegal. He was refused a fair trial. Anything short of a full pardon and just compensation is unacceptable.
The road to hell is paved with COMPROMISE.
Comments
still sucks, he should be given his guns back.
he needs to get the gov to grant that request
What whole post?
I think he means he replied to the post before he read the part about Mister Aitken being a convicted felon, then he read the rest of the post.
do anything, that is what the AD did, after he was convicted then he could get an appeal, commuted sentence.
but the gov could not step in until the court had done its thing.
but I did hear the judge wont have a job any longer.
but somewhere he needs his name cleared, he needs to move out of NJ, and he need his guns back
but until the court had run it course, Governor Christie could not
do anything, that is what the AD did, after he was convicted then he could get an appeal, commuted sentence...or a full pardon, which Christie did NOT grant
but the gov could not step in until the court had done its thing.
but I did hear the judge wont have a job any longer.
but somewhere he needs his name cleared, he needs to move out of NJ, and he need his guns back
Brian Aitken was on Judge Jeanine Perro's show on FOX News tonight. Brian Aitken is the young man who served two years of a seven year prison sentence for illegal possession of firearms in New Jersey without breaking a law.
He was convicted because the judge refused to let him offer a defense.
His sentence was commuted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and he was let out of prison with "time served". He is still a convicted felon.
Judge Perro said Governor Christie deserves credit for commuting the sentence.
By what stretch of the imagination does Governor Christie deserve any credit for anything? The man was convicted of something which wasn't illegal. He was refused a fair trial. Anything short of a full pardon and just compensation is unacceptable.
I agree with you 100%. Christie deserves no respect on this one. The cops, the prosecutor and the judge all deserve a horsewhipping on this one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Aitken
Thanks! Now I remember the case
quote:
During the jury instructions Judge Morley did not charge the jury with the exemptions to the New Jersey law despite arguments by the defense that Aitken met one of the exemptions and was therefore innocent of the charges. The jury returned three times requesting to be made aware of the laws that provide exemptions for lawful possession, however, all three requests were denied by the judge.[14] One of the jury requests read:
"Why did you make us aware at the start of the trial that the law allows a person to carry a weapon if the person is moving or going to a shooting range, and during the trial both the defense and prosecution presented testimony as to whether or not the defendant was in the process of moving, and then in your charge for us to deliberate we are not permitted to take into consideration whether or not we believe the defendant was moving?"
What saddens me is that that these people don't realize that it is the JURY and not the judge who has the real power in the court room.
If the jury feels that the judge is trying to railroad a defendant, that jury has a duty to vote for acquittal.
Maybe that's why I've never been picked for a jury [;)]
If the jury feels that the judge is trying to railroad a defendant has a duty to vote for acquittal.
Maybe that's why I've never been picked for a juryTruth spoken, Rack.
In Aitken's case Judge Morley refused to tell the jury what the law was and wouldn't let the defense lawyer tell them.
Governor Christie could have and still could pardon Brian Aitken. There's no valid reason for him not to, but he chose to commute the sentence instead.
Mister Aitken is going through appeals in the court system to clear his record. If the legal system hasn't abandoned all pretext of justice he will eventually win in court, but he shouldn't have to.
This is an Amendment II issue, but it's also a fair trial issue. If there were overwhelming evidence that he was smuggling machineguns to Osama bin Laden and voted for Barack Hussein Obama, he was still entitled to a fair trial.
Agreed, James. The trial actions taken by the Judge were reprehensible, IMO.
I was primarily speaking to potential motivations on Christie's part on why a commutation and not a pardon.
His latent gun-control beliefs coupled with his appeasement of the NJ police are, I believe, at the root of the decision.