3 ms·

Not only does he have a history of disobedience but also a history of unstable mental health. Frankly, you can't break the law even with just cause, kill yours

by vph 14y ago

Not only does he have a history of disobedience but also a history of unstable mental health. Frankly, you can't break the law even with just cause, kill yourself for being prosecuted, and blame the government for prosecuting you. Although imperfect, we have a pretty good justice system that is based on an adversary model whereby the prosecutors will try their best to prove you are guilty; the defense will do their best to prove you are not; and a jury of peers guided by the judge will decide. Everyone in the right mind will see that there is no way Aaron would get 35 years. Now, in fact, he was offered 6 months.

shock 14y ago
> [...] there is no way Aaron would get 35 years. I have no idea what is the basis of that statement. I think that if he didn't agree to a plea bargain, if found guilty he could have gotten more than 35 years if the prosecution got their way. In fact, the prosecution just upped their accusation count to 13 a short while before Aaron's suicide.
- vph 14y ago
  Even if the prosecution could prove he's guilty, the sentence will be decided by a judge. There are cases in similar spirits to this case when someone knowingly commits an illegal act for a just cause. In these cases, even if they could prove guilt, judges typically would hand out a very light sentence.
- tomku 14y ago
  Jail sentences are not speed limits. The maximums are set high so that a judge determining sentencing has flexibility in extreme cases, not because they expect most sentences to actually be that high. Yes, he could've gotten more than 35 years if they threw the book at him on every count, but he also could've gotten the minimum sentence, which everyone completely ignores. I don't know what the minimum sentences are for the crimes in question off the top of my head, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were very light. If anyone feels like doing the legwork on that, I'd love to have some definite numbers to throw around.
- bradleyjg 14y ago
  Under the federal sentencing guideline system there are a series of factors the Judge must take into account when setting the sentence. Given that some of these are wholly objective (i.e. first time offender), it can be said that it would have been impossible for him to have gotten the maximum penalty theoretically allowed.

by vph 14y ago

shock 14y ago

> [...] there is no way Aaron would get 35 years. I have no idea what is the basis of that statement. I think that if he didn't agree to a plea bargain, if found guilty he could have gotten more than 35 years if the prosecution got their way. In fact, the prosecution just upped their accusation count to 13 a short while before Aaron's suicide.

vph 14y ago
Even if the prosecution could prove he's guilty, the sentence will be decided by a judge. There are cases in similar spirits to this case when someone knowingly commits an illegal act for a just cause. In these cases, even if they could prove guilt, judges typically would hand out a very light sentence.
tomku 14y ago
Jail sentences are not speed limits. The maximums are set high so that a judge determining sentencing has flexibility in extreme cases, not because they expect most sentences to actually be that high. Yes, he could've gotten more than 35 years if they threw the book at him on every count, but he also could've gotten the minimum sentence, which everyone completely ignores. I don't know what the minimum sentences are for the crimes in question off the top of my head, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were very light. If anyone feels like doing the legwork on that, I'd love to have some definite numbers to throw around.
bradleyjg 14y ago
Under the federal sentencing guideline system there are a series of factors the Judge must take into account when setting the sentence. Given that some of these are wholly objective (i.e. first time offender), it can be said that it would have been impossible for him to have gotten the maximum penalty theoretically allowed.