Author Topic: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial  (Read 5646 times)

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Offline Sylvana

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #30 on: January 13, 2014, 07:55:50 am »
This really bugs me.
How the hell does a kid just sit in jail for 3 years?

Surely the kid has family or friends or something, you would expect them to at least try and bail him out, or cause a ruckus when the trial is delayed for s long. What happened here?

Undoubtedly it was the undercurrent of racism and class prejudice that got him arrested, but what on earth caused a minor to remain incarcerated for 3 years? That is seriously not normal. Minors are supposed to be treated far more carefully.

Offline Askold

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #31 on: January 13, 2014, 12:24:16 pm »
Yeah, the most outrageous thing about this is that it took so long. Aren't there laws concerning how long a court case can be delayed? I know that at least EU has those (since Finland is violating them all the time due to incompetence, as we take too long to get suspects into court.)

It's like they simply forgot about him and in the end were afraid of a backlash so they offered the initial deal hoping that the kid would be dump enough to confess and then at least they could have claimed that they weren't COMPLETELY incompetent and racist as at least they got their guy.

Instead with that final bit of dickery they managed to dig themselves into a deeper hole.
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Offline gyeonghwa

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #32 on: January 13, 2014, 12:28:33 pm »
Americans are all suppose to have Habeas Corpus, but increasingly the more privileged parts of our society are only able to get theirs. It's something that happens when people considers certain racial and class groups as not worthy of news.
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Offline chitoryu12

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #33 on: January 13, 2014, 12:59:28 pm »
Also, it seems like the guards never gave the kid a chance to make any kind of legal plea at all. Was he even able to contact a lawyer or have any letters sent out of jail? I can't watch the videos right now.
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Offline rageaholic

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #34 on: January 13, 2014, 05:28:44 pm »
How the hell did he end up in Rikers?!

I thought they saved that for the people who were actually convicted of serious crimes. 

Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #35 on: January 13, 2014, 06:21:57 pm »
How the hell did he end up in Rikers?!

I thought they saved that for the people who were actually convicted of serious crimes. 

Being black is a serious crime.  </not sure if I'm joking actually>
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Offline chitoryu12

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #36 on: January 13, 2014, 06:35:59 pm »
How the hell did he end up in Rikers?!

I thought they saved that for the people who were actually convicted of serious crimes.

Rikers Island is the main jail complex of the entirety of New York City. It's important to note that it's a jail, not a prison. In the United States, you're placed in a jailhouse if your sentence is 365 days or less. Once you hit "a year and a day", you're put in a prison. The difference is that prisons are long-term places to keep criminals, while jails hold people with lesser sentences, people awaiting trial, or inmates who are being temporarily held before transfer to a new facility. The idea of Rikers being some tough, gritty, film noir prison for the roughest inmates around is an idea mainly brought about by decades of pulp-style fiction and the early 20th century where the division between prison and jail was less strict.

Because he was technically "awaiting trial", he was never put into a true prison facility. He was basically kept in limbo.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2014, 08:15:45 pm by chitoryu12 »
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Offline ironbite

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Re: Innocent teenager spends three years in jail without trial
« Reply #37 on: January 13, 2014, 07:53:36 pm »
Yeah bout to say.  Rikers is the holding facility for all the black guys waiting to be put on trial.

Ironbite-and as been stated before, being black in New York is a crime.