OK. I've been critical of the DA's Office but now the situation appears more complicated. However I don't fault the Pilot (as the DA does) since no media outlet was able to get any comment from her office for several days...days remember that these two unfortunate guys were spending behind bars. I don't know who was open at 8:30 at night...perhaps there was an open supermarket these 2 guys could have gone to. But having just gotten into town they obviously didn't know where it was so they made the assumption that everyone might be closed and who would it hurt if they found something edible in the trash.
I know the store owners are now trying to do the right thing...and I also know how exhausting it can be running your own business...but they have admitted they could have done more to inform everyone about the new details in the case. It's not up to the Sherriffs dept. or the DA's Office to call you to see if you've discovered new facts...you have to call them since they're not mindreaders.
The DA can be faulted though for even now not acknowleging the facts have changed. She sounds pretty dumb when she asserts that EVEN NOW she still believes a felony burglary has taken place. Witnesses are wrong all the time...especially in the heat of the moment. If the store owner now believes she or one of her employees left the tools out...and that the sign could have fallen down on its own...that no one had actually entered the premises...and that it was only produce left for pig food that was taken...why won't the DA still not listen?
A large part of the outrage has to do with the charcter of these "felons". One's a social worker and the other is an AmeriCorps volunteer...and both plan to get their graduate degrees. I've read other media accounts that by the time they got into town they were famished and wanted to buy something to eat...but it was late and a holiday and everything was closed so they decided to check the dumpster for anything edible. When the DA found out they had traveled from out of town to pray for world peace he blew his gasket. "WWJD" he asked himself and then proceeded to do the opposite!
Do the words "Cruel and unusual punishment" sound at all familiar? What's the punishment in Steamboat Springs for litterring...life without the possibility of parole? If the whole town isn't up in arms about this then maybe the real trouble is in the civics classes in the schools. Please check out the 8th Amendment people...especially you (Ass)* District Attorney St. James!
A partial transcript from the meeting with District Attorney's Office officials
OK. I've been critical of the DA's Office but now the situation appears more complicated. However I don't fault the Pilot (as the DA does) since no media outlet was able to get any comment from her office for several days...days remember that these two unfortunate guys were spending behind bars.
I don't know who was open at 8:30 at night...perhaps there was an open supermarket these 2 guys could have gone to. But having just gotten into town they obviously didn't know where it was so they made the assumption that everyone might be closed and who would it hurt if they found something edible in the trash.
I know the store owners are now trying to do the right thing...and I also know how exhausting it can be running your own business...but they have admitted they could have done more to inform everyone about the new details in the case. It's not up to the Sherriffs dept. or the DA's Office to call you to see if you've discovered new facts...you have to call them since they're not mindreaders.
The DA can be faulted though for even now not acknowleging the facts have changed. She sounds pretty dumb when she asserts that EVEN NOW she still believes a felony burglary has taken place. Witnesses are wrong all the time...especially in the heat of the moment. If the store owner now believes she or one of her employees left the tools out...and that the sign could have fallen down on its own...that no one had actually entered the premises...and that it was only produce left for pig food that was taken...why won't the DA still not listen?
September 6, 2006 at 12:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Story ripe for the picking
A large part of the outrage has to do with the charcter of these "felons". One's a social worker and the other is an AmeriCorps volunteer...and both plan to get their graduate degrees. I've read other media accounts that by the time they got into town they were famished and wanted to buy something to eat...but it was late and a holiday and everything was closed so they decided to check the dumpster for anything edible.
When the DA found out they had traveled from out of town to pray for world peace he blew his gasket. "WWJD" he asked himself and then proceeded to do the opposite!
September 5, 2006 at 3:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Story ripe for the picking
Do the words "Cruel and unusual punishment" sound at all familiar? What's the punishment in Steamboat Springs for litterring...life without the possibility of parole?
If the whole town isn't up in arms about this then maybe the real trouble is in the civics classes in the schools. Please check out the 8th Amendment people...especially you (Ass)* District Attorney St. James!
ps- *No it's not an abbreviation for assistant.
September 5, 2006 at 10:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )