Tuesday, July 1, 2014

"Cop 'cannibal plot' case tossed"

"A former New York police officer has left jail after a judge overturned his conviction in a bizarre case accusing him of plotting to kidnap, kill and eat young women."
Judge Paul Gardephe ruled overnight (NZT) that there was insufficient evidence to support a jury's guilty verdict in the kidnapping conspiracy conviction of Gilberto Valle.

His lawyers had argued that the alleged plots were really fantasy online role play that never put anyone in harm's way.

Valle - dubbed by the tabloids as the "Cannibal Cop" - smiled at his family and hugged his lawyers in court. The judge set bail at US$100,000 (NZ$113,930) and ordered home detention for the defendant after prosecutors told him they intended to appeal his ruling.

"The government believes the jury got it right," said Assistant US Attorney Hadassa Waxman. (read more)

10 comments:

Synova said...

oh fer... really?

What on earth reason could they have to think that he was planning that for realz?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I think if a district attorney can convince a jury to indict... anything is possible after that.

I don't know.

I remember being puzzled at the time, thinking he would not be convicted, shocked when he was.

AllenS said...

Two cannibals are sitting at a table eating a clown, when one looks at the other and says: "Does this taste funny?"

deborah said...

Two guys are sitting in a cannibal's pot over a fire and one says to the other, 'Stop calling me the other white meat!'

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I got a Jury duty notice.

"You are summoned to appear at the Superior Court... Paterson NJ to serve as a PETIT JUROR. You must report on 7/21/2014 10 AM.
Term of service is 1 day or 1 trial.

BY ORDER OF THE COURT"

I'm hoping to get disqualified on account of my height, and the fact that I'm waiting for ObamaCare to approve my sex change operation ;)

Rabel said...

What a thought provoking article.

It makes me wonder if the commenters at Lem's aren't being used in some sort of perverse fantasy role play game by individuals at another blog.

Judging from previously demonstrated obsessions, the game would most likely be of a sexual rather than a cannibalistic nature. It would necessarily involve a good bit of black leather and related accessories. I'm pretty sure I know who wields the whip. Hopefully the dogs aren't involved. That would be weird.

Just a thought, provoked by the article, probably not quite right, but it would explain a few otherwise unexplainable behaviors.

deborah said...

That's rather a jump, Rabel. Or should I say, objection, the prosecution is leading the witness.

Would you mind retracing your thought process of how a cop sharing online fantasies of cannibalizing his wife, looking through police data bases for victims, and saying he knew of an ideal victim makes you think of Althouse casting aside part of her commentariat?

deborah said...

Ohhhh. Never mind.

Revenant said...

What on earth reason could they have to think that he was planning that for realz?

They found him guilty of being creepy, basically. It is depressing how few jurors actually rely on the evidence in front of them.

Aridog said...

Revenant said ...

What on earth reason could they have to think that he was planning that for realz?

What on earth reason could they have to think that he wasn't planning that for realz?

I give in on the fact that he had not yet committed the cannibalism/crime etc....but I am not the least bothered by his inconvenience in the affair and any suffering he incurred as well.

He's in that category I call "BOD" = Better Off Dead.

Weird bitch boy was a police officer, with the certification to arrest you, even shoot you if he felt threatened. He's also the shit-head who might watch your daughter get off that school bus alone and and .... you fill in the blanks.

The fragile nature of our Republic, as framed by democratic principles, is that we must wait until the crime is actually committed before acting. Witness the Mason Family predations.

It is the best system possible, but it is far from perfect when it comes to weird mf'rs. YMMV