Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Trial and error

I'm wondering if Patrick Calvo can get a fair trial.

On Monday, Calvo was "charged for sexually abusing a minor", according to the Marianas Variety. Oops, new reporter, but the Editor really should have changed 'for' to 'with'.

This after a weekend-long manhunt, complete with SWAT team.

He surrendered to police at 7:30 Monday morning. That sounds more like a man who doesn't want to spend the weekend in jail than a desperate criminal on the run.

Just out of curiosity, what time was the arrest warrant issued on Friday? Does the way this was handled seem unusual?

Granted, he's a public figure as President of the Rotary Club and as a candidate for Washington Delegate, but it appears he's already been tried in the press, with the possible exception of KSPN2.

7 comments:

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Couldn't agree more, Ken. The press seems to have the railroad ticket already issued. I wonder further: who bought the ticket?

Just the mention of child molestation gets the must be the cupidity mom's and the bandwagon followers shouting like a lynch mob.

Hey, if the guy really did it he should have his nuts cut off with a wooden spoon. But let's see if he really did it or if this is just a political ploy.

KAP said...

Looks more like the prosecutor and police to me. SWAT team?

Have you read the comments in the Variety? Why waste money on a trial?

...though I'm not sure I could be an impartial juror, and I really try to be fair.

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Looks like you are up in the middle of the night too.

It is sometimes said that we have two votes available to us, Ken. One is in the voting booth and the other is in the jury box. Fairness and an open mind are what we need to bring to that arena, but it is also our opportunity to vote on the fairness of laws put into place and to protest them if onerous.

Not the case with the child molestation accusation, but it is an interesting way to look at our responsibility as jurors.

Sidebar: I have yet to be called as a juror here. I'm a registered voter and have been for a decade or more, but so far, no nod from the judicial branch to do my duty.

KAP said...

Got up to chase the kid off of the computer. Stayed because the bar was about to close.

No jury duty either. I'd assume The Palace has a generator, so I wouldn't mind.

Saipan Writer said...

I love your attention to good grammar and wish the newspapers were even half as good as you are at spotting problems with prepositions and word choices, etc.

I don't think the charges are politically motivated. I think there's a real complaint by a real person, with allegations of molestation.

I wish I could say the same for the way the police handled this. The SWAT team search seems ridiculous. I think a more typical way of handling this would be to issue a penal summons (used where charges aren't 1st degree felonies and the person is likely to respond by turning himself in).

But penal summonses aren't glitzy and get no headlines.


So why would Clyde Norita want to make political hay out of this?

Lil' Hammerhead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lil' Hammerhead said...

If you're referring to me Porks as the lead "must be cupidity mom".. You need to read my posts on the matter. Nowhere have I even come close to insinuating Mr. Calvo is guilty.

You may wish to twist it to seem that way, as you clearly favor a horse in this race. This is evidenced by your constant diminishment of the girls charges. In fact, you used outright false information to do so in your "Sour Grapes" column this week. Boy, this isn't biased is it? Wonder if we'll see a correction.. or more appropriately, an apology?

You're a bastion of the community! Not this community.. but some community somewhere, I'm sure.