Mugging Jamie

[Tailsteak]

If you want my opinion, prison sentences are one of those rare cases where democracy itself is part of the problem.

Think of how many politicians advertise themselves as being "tough on crime", or their opponents as being "soft on crime". "Tough on crime" translates to exactly three things - tougher laws, harsher enforcement, and longer sentences... primarily the last one.

[DannyboyO1]

I'm just finding the whole storyline cutting things a bit close to my real problems. I have been accused of bank robbery, and shall stand trial in April. At the time of the robbery, I was having dinner with my gran, at a restaurant. Unfortunately, we paid cash. And by the time someone reported my similarity to the villain to the police, security cameras at gran's had overwritten the footage that could verify my alibi.

I made the mistake of cooperating when questioned. I have family in the sheriff's department, and a perfect record, and not a thing to hide. Turns out, one of my jackets was a match for what the crook wore, in grainy footage. My roommate showing the closet containing it to a policeman while I was trying to get a couple of detectives to verify my alibi instead of just (badly) berating me... was grounds for a search warrant, which turned up a grand total of a $10 from the robbery. Which had been in circulation for 2 weeks by that point.

My roommate will no longer have anything to do with me. My weekly RPG group cannot have me (one member actually works at a bank, so any association could cost him his job). I am forced to live with my parents, who are paying a lawyer to defend me.

I regret this storyline appearing in a comic I freaking love, because it isn't easy for me to laugh at this yet. Jamie's outrageous situation, to me, no longer seems to contain any comic exaggeration. I've learned, to my detriment, that the function of criminal investigation is not specifically to find a scapegoat or a guilty man. It is to destroy a life. Whether there is justice depends solely upon the accuracy of the process... and if no criminal is found, one must be made. Someone will pay, or someone loses their job.

Four banks were robbed in the previous year, in the area, which weren't immediately solved. It is assumed they were done by the same man, based on approximate height... and having worn a mask. The solved robberies had clearly identifiable crooks, readily identified, and tracked down. One within 24 hours, and one just took a bit of time to get a forwarding address, because he'd moved. The 4 unsolved are now my burden until the trial.

My odds of being convicted upon such tenuous links and sketchy evidence are quite a lot less than our protagonist's risks. I'm not 100% certain, but I suspect the only way for him to actually avoid hard time would involve the "victim" confessing publicly to the mugging. Even that, of course, could be inadmissible. Grounds for appeal, if not mistrial, if not considered as evidence.... but our system isn't known for admitting errors easily, let alone correcting them.

[Tailsteak]

I'm sorry to have caused you discomfort (although, to be perfectly honest, there's some small perverse authorial part of me that's wiggling with glee to have caused some reaction). I haven't been through anything like this, but I've always been a little cop-phobic. Phobic of authority figures in general, really. Anyone with a badge and a gun who could conceivably shoot me and receive a medal for doing so.

But yes, I have always been aware of the fact that being convicted or even merely accused of a crime entails far more than jail time.

[typhon]

It's too close to home, and it's too near the bone.

Typhon, selecting soundtracks for your messages.

[DannyboyO1]

It's not really discomfort. I just know a lot of the wit and wisdom is going to be lost on me until, well... probably when I re-read the archives in a couple years.

[DannyboyO1]

Love the lawyer joke.

[Packbat]

I just remembered: Jamie is going to a doctor at some point to get expert testimony that he did get shot, right?

[Alex Starkiller]

Speaking of which, I must remember to never decline medical help.

[whateverpants]

And now, please re-read this.

I somehow missed that comic reading through, but man, Jamie's kind if an add if he doesn't trust legal aid style lawyers.

[GreatLimmick]

"Kind if an add"?