Got Screwed With My Pants On....

Let's start this off with a flashback of sorts for anyone who might not know the story...

(the word "Allegedly" will not ever appear in this post or any subsequent posts)

Last September my apartment was broken into. Second story apt, and he came in through the balcony. The dude made off with my new Flat screen TV, PS3, Xbox 360, a few games and movies, one of my pistols, and my roommate's pistol and cell phone. My roomie woke up in time to see him walking down the hall with my rifles and chased him out. Turned out that the dude lived in the complex under an assumed identity. Got all my stuff back by the end of the day, so I didn't have to go crazy and start hunting the bastard.

Anyways... Let's fast-forward to the present day.

After multiple hearings and meetings, Monday morning, February 22nd, was the date set for the pre-trial hearing. I was ordered to appear as a witness(even though I was at work, didn't see anything, and still to this day couldn't tell you what the guy looked like). Well, we showed up and it turns out that he took a Plea Bargain about 20 minutes before we showed up. This pisses me off for a few reasons. One, he's been claiming innocence for the last five months, even though my stuff was found in his apt. Two, I'm under the impression that if he needs to steal things to survive he can't afford a lawyer, which means my tax dollars have been spent for a Public Defender Attorney to help the guy who stole from me. And Three, I had to take a night off of work so I could make it to a court appearance that was cancelled while I was on my way there. And taking that night off cost me another 200+ dollars.

It all boils down to the theory of people's rights. And in this case, criminal's rights. I understand the judge and jury system is designed to provide fairness and equality. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. But if you are charged with stealing someone's stuff, and every last bit of it is found in your apartment, with your fingerprints on every single piece... You have already been proven guilty. What kind of defense could there be? "He loaned it to me?" Yeah, I loaned you my TV, PS3, Xbox, games, 30.06, 12g Shotgun, .22 Rifle, and my 9mm pistol all at once. And by some coincidence, my roomie loaned you his 40cal pistol and cell phone at the exact same time. Even though neither one of us had ever met you before.

The worst part is that he'll probably blame all sorts of things. Upbringing, environment, opportunity, etc, etc... But the worst thing he could peg it on is respect. A lot of criminals out there work on the respect theory. Stealing something big gains you some respect from your boys. But that's not true respect. That's just admiration. True respect could be gained by helping those dudes realize that there are better ways to make a living. Ways that don't involve anyone suffering. Ways that benefit everyone involved. Get a job, contribute to society. Don't be a cancer on society.

The dude that stole my stuff is eligible for probation, but I've been invited to appear at his sentencing hearing and can speak a few words if I want in order to recommend a jail sentence. I plan to do exactly that, and will probably print this out as a guideline to follow. He orchestrated an attack on my residence, took my things, and took 5 months to finally fess up to it. Even though he was arrested the same day he did it.

Society confuses me more and more every day.

But I'm done for tonight.

Goodnight / Good Morning / Whatever

-B-

"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -- John Wayne