Would You Really Convict This Guy???
By LadyMarissa
@LadyMarissa (12148)
United States
February 24, 2009 2:41am CST
I was visiting a friend earlier today who was watching the TV show COPS. They were showing a guy who came home one evening to find a strange van in his driveway idling & saw several strange men in his home taking his most prized possessions. He was smart enough not to charge into his home to make them stop as he knew they would quickly overpower him & he could come away with permanent damage. So, he jumped in the driver seat of the idling van & drove off so they had NO way to haul off his property. While driving down the road, he called the local police to report the breakin & relayed how he had resolved the problem. The dispatcher told him that if he was found driving the van, he would be arrested for stealing the vehicle. He was shocked that there was NO concern for his property yet he was facing possible jail time for taking the crooks means of escape. He made arrangements to meet an officer & turn over the van. As it turned out an officer went by to check his home to verify his story & found the guys still in his home stacking up more of HIS stuff. Now, my question is...if he had been arrested for stealing the crooks' van & you were on the jury, would you have really sent this guy to jail for stealing the van??? Please explain why!!!
2 people like this
7 responses
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
24 Feb 09
Hi LadyMarissa,
I would have gone blasitic, after all this poor man was doing his duty so the police can get the theives get caught red handed, I think its disgusting for the police to tell this man he would go to jail for takeing the robber's car, the law is upside down. My home was burgled once and if I caught those son of bi***** stealing my stuff, I would kill them, so to speak. This man should have been given a medal.
Tamara
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
24 Feb 09
Unfortunately, the law rarely allows for committing a crime to prevent one. Stealing a car is a crime and juries are not allowed to consider that he was protecting his property. They would be told-if he's lucky-about the circumstances and could find for the lesser of offenses and the judge could give him a suspended sentence. I personally would not find him guilty, but I've never sat on a jury before even though I've been called.
If he'd had a few more moments to think, he could've decided to take the keys and not faced such serious charges. Our laws seem to lean toward the criminals rather than the victims many times.
2 people like this
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
24 Feb 09
If he had enough sense not to go into the house to confront them, he had enough sense to not take the keys & stay to where they would be looking for him. He could have been seriously hurt or killed. In my mind he didn't steal the van. He just removed it from being a weapon to be used against him. Self defense as it were. Unfortunately the courts don't look at things the same way I do. They have NO problem releasing those who abuse the system; but, let it be an honest person, they will be convicted in a heartbeat!!!
1 person likes this
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
11 Mar 09
This is a hard one to decided if I would find him guilty or not. He did break the law because he was driving a stolen vehicle. Then again he was trying to save his possessions. I am glad the police got the bad guys who where still in the home. I am glad he did not get caught driving the van.
@zhuuraan (961)
• United States
25 Feb 09
Yes I would! Two wrongs do NOT make a right. What he should've done is...
Well you said he had a cell phone, which he used to call the cops. That was right.
However, he should've left the van there. He should've taken down the make, model, color, license plate number, etc. Maybe any details about the van that stood out.
Call the cops from a discrete location where the men didn't know he had arrived home. Then, when the police caught the crooks, he'd get his stuff back, they'd go to jail, and he wouldn't be in any trouble at all because he had done the right thing.
However, since he then thought it'd be a great idea to steal their car, he is as much a crook as they are and deserves to go to jail. People really need to learn to think before they act!
@nanajanet (4436)
• United States
24 Feb 09
I think that the dispatcher he called was a butthole and any judge with 1/4 of a brain would have laughed that it was even brought into her/his court. If it got that far, I would not convict as a juror. How stupid!!!
1 person likes this
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
27 Feb 09
I totally agree with you, but I can see a judge giving him 20 years in jail. As a juror, I'd vote to acquit!!!
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
25 Feb 09
Get serious...I would not convict the guy..I guess he could have flattened the tires on the van, taken the keys or done something to disable it but his way was probably the safest for him.
He did the right thing, the bad guys got caught.
MOre and more I wonder about our country and the thought processes of our lawmakers.
