From: Paul Bradley <paul@fatmans.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 18:49:35 +0800
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Subject: Re: Bell vs. Woodward--justice?
In-Reply-To: <v03102800b08d18c99cbf@[207.167.93.63]>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.971111182249.735A-100000@fatmans.demon.co.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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> Apparently shaking a baby to death is a lesser crime than opposing
> government fascism and having a continuing interest in chemistry.

Apparently so, I must say in this particular case I see a cause for an 
aquittal based on reasonable doubt, but I`m not a juror so I didn`t see 
all the evidence so my opinion is not really valid. The general principle 
concerning sentencing length still holds. I don`t know the spin in the US 
media on the Woodward story, I understand it was sympathetic to the 
defendant, the UK press has basically done what is usual whenever a high 
profile case is tried in a foreign court (eg. Deborah Parry and Lucille 
McLaughlin, the 2 nurses tried in saudi arabia for the murder of Yvonne 
Guildford, the UK media spin was that the saudi court was a crude inhuman 
system whereby public beheadings were handed out at the drop of a hat), 
and most UK papers were ranting about the "inhumanity" of giving a 19 
year old a life sentence for murder, hell, if she did it, kill the bitch.

> The au pair Louise Woodward will serve less time in jail than Jim Bell
> will. While Bell languishes in a Washington state jail, awaiting (for
> almost 7 months!!) his sentence, the convicted babykiller is now free.

Ah yes, but don`t forget Tim that in Amerika (The land of the free, 
remember?) the life of a child is of less value than the security of the 
state.

It makes a mockery of the judicial system that a judge can overturn a 
verdict like Zobel has done in the Woodward case, sure, allow her to 
appeal, but giving an appointed official the power to decide a verdict 
makes me sick, and a sentence of 279 days for manslaughter is a joke.


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