The Prosecutor believes the police are not liable when they place fraudulent ads. He does not believe the Judge will care about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. As it turned out we were unable to see the judge yesterday due to a conflict in scheduling on his part. It could also be true that the judge in this case is unsure how to proceed. Ignoring a federal act could have repercussions, yet allowing the persecution of someone who was arrested through fraudulent police efforts can also be daunting – both morally and possibly more importantly, through the eyes of the public he serves. A prosecutor is made to prosecute but a JUDGE….. they are supposed to be JUST.
As it turned out, this may have been a good delay. Both Jace and I were so worked up that we each had a bit of a meltdown. For me – thinking of the possibility that the loving boy I raised could go to prison ultimately overwhelmed me. For Jace, the thought of more time without a pillow, locked like an animal without sunlight, eating expired food, has him pleading for prison. Hey, at least now he’s been moved off the cold concrete floor where he slept the first six weeks.
Knowing that so many bails are set excessively these days, and now aware of the atrocious conditions in a county jail, I completely understand how so many people take plea deals, even if they are INNOCENT! Jace met a man in jail who was from his same proactive sting. He too felt he was innocent and entrapped. But he did not have any family or friends with the means to bail him out. Jace met him when he had been locked up in Clark County Jail for over one full year. This is a man who had NOT gone through trial – who should have been, on all accounts, a free and innocent man until his day in court. Some of you may say, well he could have hurt someone if he was let out until court – but isn’t that what our system says? INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY? And if you can even argue with that point let me also point out that in this mans “crime”, as in my son’s, THERE WAS NO VICTIM.
How do we, as a nation, justify holding people, not proven guilty, for a year? How is this right? Does this upset anyone other than me? If it doesn’t, besides considering your morals, also consider your pocket book – who do you think is footing this man’s room and board, as horrible as they may be. And all the other charges associated with keeping a man alive and minimally healthy for the span of a year?
The more I understand about our system, the more it seems to me that we, as a nation and a system, are the perpetrators in these scenarios. We have found a way to have our government prosper from arresting people – and we are ALL IN!
Punch drunk in love with the money flowing through our sad, broken system.
The Lady Justice Myth 
Let me play Devil’s advocate for a bit. All those in jail very likely have a bail set. And for these crimes it is likely in the $25-$75k range. You have two options, 1) present full money in cash to court or 2) use bail bond and pay/lose 10%. At that high of an amount I’d recommend you pay a bail-bond place the 10% (likely 5k). So, that other person could likely be out of jail. At about / above $10k mark ($100k bail) maybe I’d put the cutoff and just stay in jail. In Pierce county they did same sting and most bails are $250k which is outrageous unless you can bargain down. In most cases the judge will lower the outrageous bail amount. So, get your ass bailed out. You better have a friend, family, or relative who can help you–$5k better not be that hard to come by. Yeah, $25k might be. Case and point–SAVE for just this case. Have GOOD friends/family relationships. There IS a lesson to be learned here–you can’t always depend on yourself! Friends/family/God. The other item is being in jail a year. Yikes. But, we DO have a speed trial–he could have gone to trail within first about 90 days if he wanted. He could have taken the plea–maybe not recommended unless he could bargain down but even that would still be Felony and 2-3 years in prison. These cases are mostly a NO WIN situation. We will fight, we have 20% chance of victory and we’ve been waiting almost 2 years. IT IS very painful. Makes since why people plea. Also $$ in lawyer and in no/menial jobs and $$ in trial costs. So, $5k for bail is nothing. That is a drop in the bucket. You better have $30k on the sideline plus 1-2 years living expenses if you get caught in one of these. Good luck to that. Ask God for strength and keep fighting.
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It’s my understanding winning these cases is more like 10% of the 10% that actually make it to trial, so ptetty dismal at best overall, most are plea deals balance are guilty confessions. The Bail System in our country needs to be overhauled, many politicians have addressed that issue to date, no results yet.
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You are close to accurate. If you want to break it down there are roughly 20-25% going to trial in these Net Nanny cases. NN#1 – 2 out of 9. NN#2 4 out of 11. NN#3 1 out of 6. NN#4 3 out of 6 with 7 pending. We are seeing more and more hold out and go to trial (big expense). Statistics now favor the bold. So out of all who went to trial – 25 trials with 1 acquittal and 1 dismissal – there has been < 10% favorable resolution. For statistics to catch-up we need roughly 2-3 acquittals out of next several trails. Generally you'll see 20% success out of those going to trail. So, if we are at 95% success rate something has to give to equalize. All things considered, expect more acquittals to result as more trials occur. There is a large wave of trials coming over next two months.
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Shared for exposure and prayers. Behind you two every step of the way during the fight for the good of humanity and justice as you go through this journey!
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