For COPS only

[Lou Girardin]

Not guilty is all that's required. He/she is then free of the matter.

The punishment must fit the crime.
Ruination despite having been found not guilty is punishment for not having committed a crime.
According to law Mr Vanner did not commit a crime, not even criminal nuisance (stupidity)

Even if he had been found guilty and jailed, how would that have helped the daughter?

[spudchucka]

According to law Mr Vanner did not commit a crime, not even criminal nuisance (stupidity)

Even if he had been found guilty and jailed, how would that have helped the daughter?

I would say, according to the jury, rather than according to the law.

I think the law is quite clear on the matter and that the jury has simply acquitted Vanner based on the emotional aspect of the case. Whether that is right or wrong isn't for me to say. I have my opinions on this but I didn't sit through the trial so I won't critiscise the jury for their decision. I will however, as I've said before, defend 100% the decision to lay charges.

Regarding your last comment, how does imprisoning Mark Lundy for the murder of his wife and daughter help them? Should we let him off and free him as well?

[Psalm42]

As far as I'm concerned, for people like Mr Vanner, the cost of his legal defence is simply a price he has to pay for his own stupidity.

The death of his daughter is the price he paid for that. No amount of money is going to make a bean of difference to that loss.

[SixPackBack]

I'd support the sate picking up the legal bill for those who are proven 100% innocent but acquital is not always the same thing as outright innocence.

Would it serve justice better to not charge people who are clearly accountable simply because the cost of legal proceedings would place them in financial difficulty?

What about the victims? Who is going in to bat for them?

As far as I'm concerned, for people like Mr Vanner, the cost of his legal defence is simply a price he has to pay for his own stupidity.

What a hard bitter old man you must be Spudchucka.

[sAsLEX]

What about the victims? Who is going in to bat for them?

well in this case the main victims were charged! Other than the kid killed the family is the "victim" and they were then dragged through court to rub salt in to the wound, real cool move by the police here.

And now they aren't charging the Govt,nat et al for cheating the law either.

[Grahameeboy]

well in this case the main victims were charged! Other than the kid killed the family is the "victim" and they were then dragged through court to rub salt in to the wound, real cool move by the police here.

And now they aren't charging the Govt,nat et al for cheating the law either.

We are all victims......think about it.....I know it is still early......the Father had to be accountable as I would expect to be if I turned my back on Natalie if she was using her wheelchair and she went out into the road...to me being charged would be nothing compared to losing Natalie.

How did the Govt cheat the law?

The problem is that 'Victim' is a wide issue.

[Grahameeboy]

"As far as I'm concerned, for people like Mr Vanner, the cost of his legal defence is simply a price he has to pay for his own stupidity."
Why didn't he just plead guilty....be done with it and not go to jail.......was he being fair to his Daughter by pleading "Not Guilty" when he should just have accepted.
Now you all know that I am not a hard person but I just look at the otherside of things.........if it was me I would have pleaded guilty.

[sAsLEX]

How did the Govt cheat the law?

they all overspent on election spending

[sAsLEX]

We are all victims......think about it.....I know it is still early......the Father had to be accountable as I would expect to be if I turned my back on Natalie if she was using her wheelchair

Farm kids will always die on the farm, its a fact of life, just now days instead of being thrown from Betsy the clydesdale its a Suzuki or Honda et al that did the business.

[MisterD]

well in this case the main victims were charged! Other than the kid killed the family is the "victim" and they were then dragged through court to rub salt in to the wound, real cool move by the police here.

The once in a lifetime has happened, and my view on this has been changed by reasoned argument. I'm agreeing with Hitcher, Vanner damn right should have been charged, his negligence caused someone's death, the fact that it was his daughter is irrelevant to that fact, he should have been found guilty.

The suffering he has inflicted on himself should only come into play when the judge decides on the sentence, and in this case I think he would and should have been freed (don't know what the legal term is for this..).

[Grahameeboy]

Farm kids will always die on the farm, its a fact of life, just now days instead of being thrown from Betsy the clydesdale its a Suzuki or Honda et al that did the business.

Ah, I feel much better now knowing that it is okay for kids to die on farms......

[Grahameeboy]

The once in a lifetime has happened, and my view on this has been changed by reasoned argument. I'm agreeing with Hitcher, Vanner damn right should have been charged, his negligence caused someone's death, the fact that it was his daughter is irrelevant to that fact, he should have been found guilty.

The suffering he has inflicted on himself should only come into play when the judge decides on the sentence, and in this case I think he would and should have been freed (don't know what the legal term is for this..).

Good on ya MisterD............................

[spudchucka]

The death of his daughter is the price he paid for that. No amount of money is going to make a bean of difference to that loss.

Should have thought about that before he did something so stupid. If he valued his daughters life as much when she was alive as, presumably, he does in her death then she would still be here and he wouldn't have been dragged through the courts.

[spudchucka]

What a hard bitter old man you must be Spudchucka.

Not at all, I'm more your cudly teddy bear type. I do have a low idiot tollerance though.

[Krusti]

My last word.....God help us if we leave it up tp Police to be judge and jury and decide who should be charged and who gets let go. We employ them as offence detectors, they have huge books that are filled with rules made by people we elect and they either impose an instant fine or put these people in front of a court.

We have the right to dispute any charge. (apart from the stupid 28 day licence rule!)

As you can see half the folks here think he should not have been charged and half don't.....that's why we let the courts decide.

How far do we take this? Should we not charge wife beaters? Most of them are extremly sorry for what they did after the fact. I could go on..... But then what do I know?