Sword seized after man mistakes porn for rape
 

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/22/por...rss_topstories

I think they should make him fix the door and let him go . . oh and laugh about it.

Who has a sword?

I want a sword. I wish I had one :(

/NOT in a Freudian way

Come on, if it really appears the guy was acting in good faith, he's a responsible citizen, not a criminal.

I agree. Although he should have to fix the door :)

Totally agree. That county is notorious for overcharging crap and then pleading it so they can be "tough on crime" so I'm betting he'll end up pleading down to a disorderly. I think he should take it to trial if they don't dismiss and demand a jury trial.

Ok, in this situation, shouldn't the other owner really be the one who determines if charges are pressed or not? I mean, if he backs down and says, eh, whatever, would there still be charges or can the state press them on its own?

No, the state makes all charging decisions. This causes a lot of problems like in domestic violence cases where the victim will call the DA a few days later and say "Oh, I didn't really want to call the police, it's not a big deal, blah blah..." but at that point the victim has no say. They lose control of the case when they call the police.

Maybe one of the "Society for Creative Anachronism" people? http://www.sca.org/

Not necessarily true. I once caught a co-worker stealing from our family business and called police. They refused to press charges. They said "I" had to press the charges, meaning I could have said no. Perhaps it depends on the nature of the crime, and/or the jurisdiction.

In this case, the guy with the sword didn't have a phone, so I would assume the other guy called in the complaint and pressed charges.

Who has swords? I do! Two of them - just like on our coat of arms! :)

If they said you had to press the charges then you probably didn't meet the standard for criminal theft and they may have meant you had to go civil.

I am very very familiar with this area (I would say more but, you know, crazy people on the interwebs) and I would be absolutely shocked if the DA was willing to drop it.

No, I had to actually say out loud, in front of everybody, "I want him arrested", whereupon the cops put him in handcuffs and took him away in a police car. It wasn't all that civil.

Another time, we had a nighttime break-in. Files rifled just for looks - an inside job. When we told the detective the name of the employee we suspected, he rolled his eyes and said, "Her??? She a goddamn thief!"

So that was the end of that. They never so much as called her up and asked her if she had done it.

The only thing that shocks me about DAs is how often they'll railroad people they know are innocent, just to close a case.

Other than Nifong, do you really think this happens much?

They "know" the person's innocent? How? Wouldn't they also know that the defense lawyer could prove it just the same way they "knew' it?