Friday, November 05, 2004
Ray Lewis was *not* acquitted
On Thursday, ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said that Ray Lewis had been "acquitted" of double murder charges. Tony, I thought you did your homework!
As Sal Paolantio reported at http://sports.espn.go.com/page2/tvlistings/show11transcript.html:
"The Fulton County DA was willing to dismiss the murder charges against Lewis, but there was a catch. In addition to pleading guilty to obstructing the police, Lewis would have to testify against his two former friends and co-defendants"
You can read more about it here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/news/2000/06/04/lewis_agreement/
It's worth noting that those two co-defendent "friends" who Lewis testified against, Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley, actually weren't guilty. So the killer of Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker is still walking - maybe preening, howling, and dancing too, for all we know - somewhere out there today.
A plea bargin is not an acquittal - it's a sweetheart deal for the rich, powerful, and/ or famous. Funny, another Baltimore Lewis also got a sweetheart deal recently - not quite a plea bargin, but more than anyone else would have gotten in the same situation.
It's worth noting that, as the SI articles says, " Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard refused to say how the plea agreement was brokered". So the real question here is, who's running Atlanta's justice system - Jerry Lewis? Or is Ozzie Newsome just the best negotiator in the NFL?
As Sal Paolantio reported at http://sports.espn.go.com/page2/tvlistings/show11transcript.html:
"The Fulton County DA was willing to dismiss the murder charges against Lewis, but there was a catch. In addition to pleading guilty to obstructing the police, Lewis would have to testify against his two former friends and co-defendants"
You can read more about it here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/news/2000/06/04/lewis_agreement/
It's worth noting that those two co-defendent "friends" who Lewis testified against, Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley, actually weren't guilty. So the killer of Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker is still walking - maybe preening, howling, and dancing too, for all we know - somewhere out there today.
A plea bargin is not an acquittal - it's a sweetheart deal for the rich, powerful, and/ or famous. Funny, another Baltimore Lewis also got a sweetheart deal recently - not quite a plea bargin, but more than anyone else would have gotten in the same situation.
It's worth noting that, as the SI articles says, " Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard refused to say how the plea agreement was brokered". So the real question here is, who's running Atlanta's justice system - Jerry Lewis? Or is Ozzie Newsome just the best negotiator in the NFL?
