Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog
Last Friday, I told you that I was originally going to blog about a Massachusetts sex offender who had gotten arrested for urinating at an MBTA stop. If you are unaware of the gentleman’s story, you can read about it here as reported by our news-blogger. It may have made you wonder about what passes for logic amongst Massachusetts sex offenders.
Well, now comes a story that would indicate that it is right there with other deep thinkers in the rest of the country.
This story comes to us from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.
People care about each other in Whitefish. Even federal employees, who sometimes get a bad rap for being anti-social, for example postal workers, care. Further, sometimes such people are not thought to have a sense of humor. Well, this is not true in Whitefish.
Enter a certain 52-uear-old postal carrier (hereinafter, the Defendant”). He was concerned about a 21-year-old woman whom he sees on his regular rounds. You see, she apparently had been seeming “stressed out”. Naturally, the Defendant wanted to relax her and cheer her up.
Now, what could be more natural than that?
Well, it seems that on December 4th, Defendant took “au natural” to a new level. He delivered the mail to her work in his G-d given suit.
In other words, completely naked.
The local police had a funny response to the act of humor. They arrested the Defendant for lewd and lascivious behavior.
Since then, the manager of the post office indicated to the media that the matter is being handled internally and the department is working with law enforcement. The Defendant has since been relieved of his post.
The Defendant has, looking back, come to the conclusion that delivering mail while completely naked probably wasn’t a good idea.
A View From The Trenches:
Some people just have no sense of humor!
As funny as such stories may seem to be, they might not be quite as humorous if they occurred to you or someone you love. You see, the prosecution seldom laughs at such antics.
The government’s responses to such comedy acts are things like criminal prosecution and the sex offender registry. You see, while bad judgment in itself is not a crime, how one demonstrates it often is.
Further, prosecutors are often very reluctant to reduce such matters to a non-sexual counterpart. This is why, not so long ago, people arrested for urinating at the side of the highway (as opposed to a crowded mbta stop) ended up having to register for the sex offender registry.
After all, sayeth the Commonwealth, “What if we cut them a break and they go out and rape or murder someone?”
“Well, Sam, even if the government covers its behind by charging it as a sex crime, wouldn’t a jury likely agree with you? And if not, they are supposed to be the voice of the community, so let them decide if the sex offender registry is appropriate!”
That makes sense…which means, naturally, that that is not the way things work in the land of criminal justice.
The jury not only has no say in sentencing or other repercussions of convictions, but they are not even advised what their verdict will trigger. Yes, that means that a jury who might scoff at the idea of someone like the Defendant having to register as a sex offender will not even know that their verdict will mean just that!
“Well, even if the Defendant does have to register and even if his information is published, at least folks will know that it was not a case of violence or sexual assault…just a foolish antic.”
Again, good point…only that is not how it works. A person is labeled a sex offender and, at most, the crime for which he is convicted is listed. All the general public generally knows is that he is a sex offender. The facts of the case are not released.
Seems that for a democracy and a system supposedly run by “the people”, said people don’t get to know so much. Strange, huh?
But then again, fortunately, said people don’t have to worry because they have guardian angels to do justice for them. These angels are called prosecutors. As you know, a prosecutor’s chief responsibility is to see that Justice is done.
As you also know, these prosecutors are commanded by prosecutorial politicians often on their way to higher office. They get to make the policies.
I could address whether they really seek to do Justice…but it wold be redundant. I seem to have done alot of that recently. Just read my posts from this week and last.
Hence one of the main reasons for this blog – to communicate criminal justice reality to the outsiders…the people supposedly running the system.
You, for example.
However, if your interest is more personal, and you or a loved one have a case, and would like to consult with me, a Massachusetts criminal defense attorney with over 25 years of experience, please feel free ,to call me to arrange a free initial consultation at 617-492-3000.
To view the original story in which parts of this blog were based, please go to : http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2010/12/14/postal_worker_arrested_after_delivering_mail_naked/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1_HP and http://www.whitefishbaynow.com/news/111814504.html
