Monday, April 21, 2008
Gordon Lee case ends with a written apology
More details have emerged concerning the case against comic book retailer Gordon Lee. The Rome-News Tribune is reporting that Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson met with Lee’s defense attorneys and came to an agreement:
Patterson said the case was dismissed after the district attorney met with Lee’s counsel and decided that a measure other than prosecution could be taken in resolving the case.
“He did a written apology to the victims in the case,” said Patterson.
It’s a shame this couldn’t have happened a long time ago. I’ve long held the opinion that this case should have been settled along time ago with a plea bargain agreement. It now looks as though that is the case.
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Once again, Rick, you are wrong. The case did not end with a plea deal. It ended with the CHARGES BEING DISMISSED. It wouldn’t hurt to get your facts straight every once in awhile.
Or you could simply delete this post, as you have others of mine that have pointed out your inaccuracies.
You are aware that a “plea bargain,” by the way, involves a defendant PLEADING guilty to lesser charges in order to receive a reduced or suspended sentence? Hence the word “PLEA” in “PLEA bargain.” Gordon
Sorry, hit the “enter” key too quickly. To finish the post above: Gordon DIDN’T PLEAD GUILTY TO ANYTHING. Hence, no plea bargain.
I apologize for letting the facts get in the way. But again, feel free to delete these posts as you have others that have pointed out your inaccuracies.
Don’t flatter yourself Bill. Once again, I am the only one that writes posts here on my blog. What you just did was write three (3) comments.
Comments are not posts. Posts and not comments. My blog’s comment section is not your blog. If you want to blog, go to WordPress.com or Blogspot and start one. They’re free. If you want to leave a comment, go right ahead.
With that said, I am not wrong. The charges were dropped because Gordon Lee submitted a written apology to his victims. This should have happened a long time ago. I didn’t say he pleaded guilty to anything. A plea bargain does not always end with the defendant pleading guilty to anything. Here is the Wikipedia entry for plea bargain:
In the Gordon Lee case, the prosecutor and the defendant came to an agreement. Gordon Lee would write an apology to his victims and Floyd County District Attorney Leigh Patterson would dismiss the charges.
@Rick: “If you want to blog, go to WordPress.com or Blogspot and start one.”
I’ve had my own blog since 2006.
@Rick: “…I am not wrong.”
According to the Wikipedia entry you’ve cited, you are. As stated in that article, when accepting a plea bargain, “The defendant agrees to plead guilty (and often allocute) or no contest…” Gordon has not agreed to plead “guilty” or “no contest” to any charges in exchange for the case being dismissed. There was no plea bargain, because Gordon never deviated from his affirmative “not guilty” plea.
Gordon Lee offered to apologize to the complainant from the beginning, but the complainant would not accept the apology and D.A. Leigh Patterson decided to proceed with her misguided prosecution. Her office originally indicted Gordon on two felony counts and five misdemeanor counts. The defense filed pre-trial motions that resulted in four of those counts (including the two felony counts) being dismissed with prejudice, and the three remaining misdemeanor counts being consolidated into two. Subsequently, prosecutorial errors — some would say misconduct — resulted in two mistrials. So now, after three years, she’s agreeing to what Gordon offered in the first place in order to avoid admitting she made a mistake.
Bill, my point is that the district attorney met with Lee’s counsel and they came to an agreement. Lee would write an apology to his victims and she would dismiss the charges. They agreed to settle the case.
This should have happened a long time ago.
When exactly in the beginning of all this did Lee’s counsel meet with the prosecutor and offer to write an apology in exchange to have all of the charges dismissed?
Rick, it is clear that you’re more interested in “winning” the argument than you are in getting at the truth. There is nothing to be gained from arguing with one such as you. Believe what you wish. The facts are what they are, and no amount of posts from you will change that.
Bill, you’ve said time and time again that you don’t want to argue with me, yet you continue coming back to argue. If it’s not here, it’s on Newsarama. Forgive me if I don’t believe you. I’ve heard it all before.
In my opinion, a lot of this grief could have been avoided if Gordon Lee had simply made apologies to his victims when this whole thing first began. Of course apologizing is admitting to a mistake and one cannot be a champion of the First Amendment if one admits they screwed up.
Rick, you’re a liar and a coward. Shut up and stop embarrassing yourself. Bill is right, you are wrong, suck on it.
What have I lied about “John Smith”? Please show me.
And if I were you I wouldn’t be calling anyone a coward. I’m not the one hiding behind an alias.
The idiot should have apologized a couple of years ago. That would have saved everyone a whole bunch of time and money. I always thought he was enjoying the attention. I think he got off on it. Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes him to give a copy of Lost Girls to a toddler and say that its his Constitutional right to do so?
Anyone? Anyone?
I went to Bill Myers’s page. The PhotoShop lens flare nearly killed me. Then I clicked the “About” link and it said, “UNDER CONSTRUCTION.” How long’s that been like that?
I think Bill is too busy fighting those who would take away our First Amendment rights to waste time doing something as pedestrian as blogging.
TJ, I don’t think he would give a kid a copy of Lost Girls. I think it runs around $100. Maybe he only hands out adult material to kids if it’s free.
I agree with you though that he should have apologized a long time ago. He did “offer” to apologize, but it was far from contrite. This is what he said back in 2005:
Comparing a funny book where a naked guy tells a naked gal to “drink penis” to the Sistine Chapel ain’t much of an apology.