By: Scott Erickson

Scott Erickson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:19:54 +0000

This needs to be brought to justice. I’m not sure what court proceedings are underway, but I do know that judges approve all evidence that is displayed at trial. If for any reason, this is not allowed to go to trial, or the the video footage of the murder are not allowed to be used as evidence – there needs to be follow-up action to guarantee we can change this corrupt legal system. My own experience is that not only do police officers fail to collect enough evidence on the scene of the crime, but judges do not allow supportive evidence of certain types to be brought into trial. The reasoning behind not collecting enough evidence is monetary – certain forensic procedures are not deemed important enough for charges that are not serious enough. It is my opinion that any forensic material that can be gathered should be, despite the charges, so that justice can be brought to light. There are no charges so light that a person doesn’t deserve a fair trial, which means collecting adequate evidence, when you are potentially destroying a person’s reputation and future. If you are willing to charge a person with a crime, you should be willing to take the necessary steps to eliminate doubt of their innocence. When it comes to excluding evidence from trial, I believe this is also done based on the nature of the crimes, and to save money at the hearings because an entire jury is there, being paid and prevented from attending their regular jobs. Every crime is truly unique, and I believe decisions regarding “rules of thumb” with charges and evidence collected or evidence heard at hearings should be left up to judges to deem their appropriateness for that specific case, instead of piggy-backing on cases that are similar. These judges are hiding behind the rulings of others, and avoiding real justice, in the name of keeping budgets smaller. Our justice system claims to be one of the best in the world, in certain aspects, and these facts are detriments to it. The last thing I would like to add is that there is an inability of inmates who are charged with crimes to communicate adequately with the outside world in order to gather evidence to prove their innocence. Only if one can afford bail can they gather evidence to support their case. Very minimal evidence is collected by public defenders, because of their huge caseloads. For a country with so many people in prisons, I believe it is no coincidence that our justice system has these fundamentally flaws. Money that is being spent on developing new technology for wars, and sending troops to overseas countries where we have no business, needs to be diverted to fill in these gaps. A few of those billions of dollars would no doubt go a long way towards this cause, and I guarantee we will suffer no repercussions from a lack of patrolling “terrorism” globally. We are the terrorists, and the cops are the domestic terrorists, as long as this bullying occurs. As long as there is pressure for us to reduce spending in courtrooms, there will be reasons to not provide enough to prove innocence, and as well to prove guilt. It works both ways. Free Fly and bring justice for Kenneth Harding. And while we are at it, let’s bring the real criminals to light and stop them from hiding justice behind false guises of fiscal priority.

Comments on: Police State Brutality: The Story of Kenneth Harding

By: Scott Erickson