Double Jeopardy

As explained at http://lp.findlaw.com/:

''The constitutional prohibition against 'double jeopardy' was designed to
protect an individual from being subjected to the hazards of trial and possible
conviction more than once for an alleged offense. . . . The underlying idea, one
that is deeply ingrained in at least the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence,
is that the State with all its resources and power should not be allowed to make
repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby
subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live
in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the
possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty.''

In essence, the courts can only try someone once for a specific crime. This doesn't prohibit, however, the same charges being filed in regards to the same crime on both federal and state levels - which is what seems to be the direction that Virginia is going in with the Michael Vick dogfighting case.

That is not what I am referring to with Vick.

While it appears to be likely that Vick will face an indictment from the State of Virginia in addition to his federal indictment, I am talking about something different.

I am talking about the other indictment that could be handed down in Atlanta.

From 2004 through 2006 the Falcons won 11, 8, and 7 games respectively. In each of those three seasons, in spite of passing for more yards each year, his completion percentage dropped from 56.4 in 2004 to 55.3, and, ultimately 52.6 last season. Overall, he is a career 53.8 percent passer who has piloted the Falcons to two winning seasons. The only time that the Falcons have won more than nine games with Vick at the helm coincides with his highest completion percentage - 56.4.

Joey Harrington, for all the knocks he takes in the press, is the better quarterback. Over the last three seasons playing for Detroit and Miami - two teams no one could really consider contenders, Harrington has posted completion percentages of 56, 57, and 57.5 respectively.

If after six seasons of Vick, during which the Falcons could achieve ten wins only once, what will it say of Vick - the so called "most exciting player in the game," if Atlanta wins ten with Detroit's first-round quarterbacking bust at the helm?

Isn't that just another indictment of Vick?

His defenders point to the number of dropped passes his receivers had last season. They don't point to the fact that, until this past off season when the dogfighting was about to hit the fan, Vick didn't spend anymore time around Flowery Branch than the bare minimum required. He didn't spend the extra time developing that rapport with receivers that quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Donovan McNabb do.

Whose fault is that? The receivers?

For all the hype, and the excitement he has caused on the field (and off), nothing ever justified Arthur Blank's signing of this man to the richest contract ever for a quarterback. As much as you may here players and coaches give proper respect to Vick's athletic ability - you never hear them talk about him as a great quarterback.

Why? Because defensive coordinators would rather face someone like Vick than someone like Brady or Manning. They know if they bottle up Vick, then they force him to pass. That's not a prospect that defensive coordinators in the NFL fear - not the way they fear what Brady, Manning, McNabb, Carson Palmer, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, or any one of a number of other quarterbacks can do if stuck in the pocket.

Don't be surprised if Vick faces another indictment by the end of the season - only this one will be on the football field.

Back off, man

According to a report that hit the Boston papers this weekend, sources close to Asante Samuel say the corner-back is unlikely to go through with his threat to sit out the season.

I think this is called, in the parlance, "blinking first."

According to this source, it has "occurred" to Samuel, that he would be better able to showcase his abilities over the course of a full season...and would be more likely to avoid a catastrophic injury by being in "game shape." This reasoning all seems quite familiar to me.

Of course, this also means that, with this source close to him going public, his source has destroyed any of what little negotiating leverage Samuel may have had with a hold-out - which I still think was none at all.

Hubris and David McDade -

Anyone who reads my blog knows I have been posting here about the travesty that is the Genarlow Wilson case in Georgia - the then 17-year old convicted of child-molestation and serving ten-years for receiving a blow-job, freely given, from a then 15-year old at a party. Recently an appeals judge ruled that the punishment didn't fit the...crime, for lack of a better word (and I refuse to call our society setting an arbitrary age at which a person can legally consent to sex a crime).

The judge, in essence, changed the ruling to a misdemeanor and granted Wilson time served. For more details, see my other posts on Wilson - there are several.

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, the DA who originally prosecuted Wilson, has appealed the ruling. Until the appeal is hear and ruled upon, Wilson will continue to languish in jail.

McDade is making no friends with Georgia law-makers according to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His philosophy seems to be all or nothing, and that the law should have no gray area. It might just be me - but it strikes me that that philosophy is about to bite him on the ass based on the following passages from the AJC:

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade violated federal law when he distributed a videotape from a rape and child molestation case to legislators and journalists, the U.S. Attorney in Atlanta said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said in a statement that federal law prohibits the distribution of the Genarlow Wilson videotape because it depicts minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He warned that people who had received it would be in violation of federal child pornography laws

Federal law prohibits the distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography in most circumstances, Nahmias said...

McDade told the Associated Press that he was required to release the tape under the state's Open Records Act because it was introduced as evidence at the trial.

Nahmias, though, said federal law trumps any contrary requirement of the open records law.

Nahmias said that his office issued the statement to end further distribution of the videotape and advised those who possessed it to destroy or return it. His office, under federal policy, would neither confirm nor deny whether it was investigating the distribution.

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) has called for an investigation to determine whether McDade violated federal law in distributing the videotape in response to requests under the open records law.

On Tuesday, Jones characterized the videotape as child pornography and called it "an absolute, utter disgrace" that a videotape of the raunchy party in a Douglasville hotel room that led to the conviction of Wilson on aggravated child molestation charges has been given to reporters and legislators.

Now, it might just be me, but - if you're a lawyer, isn't it just common sense that you wouldn't be able to distribute any sort of visual recording of teenagers having sex? No matter what the public access laws are? I mean, even I knew this dude was in trouble when I heard that the tape had been distributed based on public requests. Also, does it sound like the legislator wants to put the screws to McDade, the way McDade has been to Wilson? This isn't just an investigation. He's calling for the DA to be investigated for distribution of child pornography.

As the DA has supplied tapes to news outlets outside of Georgia, we're talking federal investigation and a sentence of at least 21 months, possibly longer, from the federal statutes that I have found. Once again, maybe it's me, but it seems to me that the legislator, in his own subtle way, is telling McDade to back-off.

Quick Shots...

It's about time that CNN and the AP picked this story up. Genarlow Wilson is back in the news on the day when his lawyer BJ Bernstein is in court for a Habeus hearing on his behalf. Good luck kid.

Trading one broken player for another...
So the trigger finally got pulled on the deal sending Trent Green to the Miami Dolphins as the solution to Miami's quarterbacking woes. Last year the 'Phins entered the season with high hopes that the rehabbing Duante Culpepper was healthy enough to lead them to the promised land in the AFC East, only to find that they had overpaid for an injured quarterback who pretty much looked done.

After only a handful of starts, Culpepper finished the season on injured reserve.

Now, the 'Phins completed a trade and new contract for Green, last year's starting quarterback for the Chiefs until he was knocked out of a game with a concussion. Upon returning to the line-up, Green never looked quite the same, struggling mightily to get the offense going.

Is Green going to continue to be gun-shy in Miami? My guess is yes. Four times in the coming season he will be facing the defenses of the Jets and Patriots, neither of which will be the balm for his pains.

I'm not normally political here, but for this I'll make an exception...

In decision after decision the Supreme Court of the United States has held that the implication of the statement, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," from the Declaration of Independence applies to all United States citizens regardless of race or gender. It has, in the past, been used as reason to grant asylum to those seeking refuge from religious and political persecution in their own country in the name of Justice.
It's a shame we can't get it right in our own country.
Let me start by saying, free Genarlow Wilson NOW.
Wilson a former star high school football player and honor student in Georgia is now two years into a mandatory ten year prison sentence with no chance of parole for child molestation for receiving oral sex from a 15 year-old girl when he was 17. The girl, in every account, including the account given by the girl's mother to the court in Wilson's case, was the one who initiated the action. Film even exists of the act.
Read the article on Wilson - it details some serious inequities that have been perpertrated by the state of Georgia, including the following; "The position of Barker and the district attorney, McDade, who refused to comment, is that Wilson is guilty under the law and there is no room for mercy, though the facts seem to say they simply chose not to give it to Wilson. At the same time this trial was under way, a local high school teacher, a white female, was found guilty of having a sexual relationship with a student -- a true case of child molestation. The teacher received 90 days. Wilson received 3,650 days."
Somehow I have a hard time believing that this is fair and equal treatment under the law. The Georgia Supreme Court called him, "a promising young man," and left him languishing in jail. I have a hard time reconciling their statement with their action.
The prosecutor in the case would be willing to let Wilson walk if he pleads guilty, thus relegating Wilson to a brand and national database that are a disservice and an inaccurate classification of the young man. The database is meant as a resource to inform parent of a menace to their children. That is not Wilson.
While I commend ESPN for writing this article, with the resources that the company has at hand I would like to think that the world wide leader in sports coverage is going to give this story more than ink. I think this story demands air time.
If ESPN could give a self-serving reality show to bore such as Barry Bonds, isn't then the socially and journalistically responsible thing to do to give Wilson some of that same self-serving air-time. After all they are a member of the Fourth Estate - the unofficial branch of the government that is supposed to be the watchdog that keeps things like this from happening.


On a somewhat related note, I would hope that if Wilson's lawyer, BJ Bernstein, can get him off, that the colleges that were once recruiting him will keep their offers open.