martybegan
Diamond Member
- Apr 5, 2010
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The adversarial system of law only works if the sides are adversarial. That, and what is the point of laws you don't intend to prosecute?
Portland Prosecutor Likely to Drop Charges Against Rioters Who Injure Cops, Citing 'Instinctive Reaction' to Police
The rioters will see this as a sign of weakness and will continue knowing the prosecutor is on their side.
Portland Prosecutor Likely to Drop Charges Against Rioters Who Injure Cops, Citing 'Instinctive Reaction' to Police
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that his default position is not to prosecute and that most crimes by rioters will be forgiven and forgotten.
That list of crimes includes interfering with a police officer, disorderly conduct, and rioting.
-interfering with a police officer
-disorderly conduct
-criminal trespass
-harassment
-escape in the 3rd degree
-riot (somtimes in some circumstances)
[We’ll take] a particularly hard look at resisting arrest and assault of a public safety officer if those cases occurred when an individual was being tear gassed or otherwise exposed to a use of force at the time of the resistance.
His staff plans to determine the intent with which the rioter used violence to determine whether he or she is worthy of prosecution or “restorative justice.”
He told the local taxpayer-funded radio station that “the presumption on a lot of these cases that are listed out there is that we won’t prosecute… But if there are egregious circumstances or something about the case that stands out, we can always choose to prosecute.”
Schmidt told reporters at a news conference today that being caught up by police while simply protesting will not be prosecuted.
… f you are a person who is out there demonstrating and you get caught up in the melee and you get arrested … those are the kind of cases we’re talking.
Violating curfew during civil unrest will no longer be prosecuted.
The rioters will see this as a sign of weakness and will continue knowing the prosecutor is on their side.