Thread: Why?

This was copied & pasted from a news story earlier today.

DARLINGTON, S.C. - A jury has found a convicted sex offender accused of raping two teen girls in an underground bunker not guilty of kidnapping, sex crimes and assault with intent to kill.
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Kenneth Glenn Hinson, 48, wiped his eyes and mouth and appeared to cry after the jury read its verdict, which followed about four hours of deliberations over two days.

Authorities had charged that Hinson snatched the then-17-year-old girls from their bedroom and dragged them one at a time to the underground room hidden beneath a tool shed, where he raped and bound them with duct tape. Prosecutors said Hinson expected the girls to die because the room had no air supply.

However, Hinson testified during the six-day trial that the girls had consensual sex with him. He said they made up the story so they would be able to take drugs from the underground room, which he used to store marijuana.

The two young women were not in the courtroom when Hinson was acquitted. Their mothers wept.

If convicted, Hinson had faced a mandatory life sentence without parole under the state's two-strikes law because he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 1991.

The underground room was about the length and width of a mid-sized car with a ceiling about 4 1/2 feet high. Hinson testified Sunday that he had built the room over two years.

Defense attorney Rick Hoefer spent much of his nearly two-hour closing argument Sunday picking apart what he called inconsistencies in the teens' testimony, including how long it took them to call 911 after their alleged escape and whether they saw Hinson with a gun.

Prosecutors said any discrepancies in their stories might have been a result of the trauma the teens went through.

Hinson was not freed because prosecutors asked that he be held on pending burglary charges.

My question is: He was convicted of raping a 12-year old in 1991. Why in the hell wasn't this POS dead or still in jail?

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

My question is: He was convicted of raping a 12-year old in 1991. Why in the hell wasn't this POS dead or still in jail?

Do defense attorneys have to go through some type dehumanization process ---I couldn't live with myself --- I hope the son of a bitch is proud of himself.

Hang them both. (flip a coin for the preferable body part)


Justin

The other possibility would have been that it really was true in which case that could have been a pure case of statuatory, depending on the age of consent in that particular state.
I am not saying whether he is really innocent or guilty but I do see the possibility of two punk teens doing an older guy for drugs, getting caught and crying wolf. Most parents would rather believe that the old dude raped them than that their children would put out just to score some drugs. Yes the previous rape conviction does put him in a bad light but it doesn't prove that he raped these two girls.
I didn't attend the trial or review the evidence, but if there were inconsistencies in the testimony, he should have been acquitted. It's a defense attourney's job to defend the defendant within the limits of the law. It looks like he did a good job, so I don't see why we would be hostile to him.
Let's not rush with tar and feathers until we know the whole story.

what age was he in 1991 was it consensual statutory rape.
Not saying its OK but it may be why he got a short sentence. I wonder if the jury know he had a prior rape conviction, very relevant if you ask me, but I don't think your allowed to tell the jury about prior convictions.
its fucked up shit no doubt, on one hand I want to kill the prick myself ( I have an 11 year old daughter)on the other hand I don't know shit about the case. I'm trying to be reasonable about it but it makes my blood boil

Overall --- I think Ilija is right ---but you can't help but be moved by cases like this.

But in cases where the defense attorney knows that his client is guilty and get's him off through --defense attorney skills ---- I still say hang him em high. Not a job for me for sure --- but I do understand the importance of defense attorneys.

Justin

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

The other possibility would have been that it really was true in which case that could have been a pure case of statuatory, depending on the age of consent in that particular state.
I am not saying whether he is really innocent or guilty but I do see the possibility of two punk teens doing an older guy for drugs, getting caught and crying wolf. Most parents would rather believe that the old dude raped them than that their children would put out just to score some drugs. Yes the previous rape conviction does put him in a bad light but it doesn't prove that he raped these two girls.
I didn't attend the trial or review the evidence, but if there were inconsistencies in the testimony, he should have been acquitted. It's a defense attourney's job to defend the defendant within the limits of the law. It looks like he did a good job, so I don't see why we would be hostile to him.
Let's not rush with tar and feathers until we know the whole story.

Ilija, I think you missed the point. In this case, it may be just like you said, and like this rapist claimed. It's possible, despite being highly unlikely, given his history. The point is, he was convicted of raping a 12 year old 16 years ago. Now, this is a late 40s age man, so he was still grown, and there was nothing "statutory" about the rape of the 12 year old. Why wasn't he dead or still in jail? I don't blame the defense attorney. You're right...it's his job to poke holes in a prosecutor's case. This guy should've never been free for this to be an issue, though..

What Ilija said.

Suppose it really happened like Ilija described it could have happened and you'd lynch him (and his lawyer) vigilante style, toss in a couple of Bruce Willis quotes, go home and have barbecue.
Oops. Turn out he didn't do it. How do you feel for the rest of your life?

My sole reason for being against the death penalty is that there is too much room for human errors. Based on how many people were released from death row or life sentences by the innocence project in the last couple of years, a significant percentage of death sentences is carried out on people who did not do the crime they were convicted of.

But yeah, if he raped a 12 year old before, he should never have been let out, or at least let out unsupervised. According to statistics, sex offenders nearly always repeat their crimes. Thinking that a sex offender can change is an illusion.

Slightly off topic because the case is different for the accused in this case, but I don't understand statutory rape. I know the law and the implications, but do people in the US really think that an 18 year old should be marked as a sex offender for the rest of his life if he had sex with his 17 years, 11 months and 2y days old girlfriend?
In Belgium this is based on age difference. (max 2 years difference if either party is under 18 I think)

I say tie him between poles spread eagle and sell bottle rockets *with report* with straight pins attached to the ends for 20 for $2. Proceeds to be donated to the family of the victim.

I also advocate a free pack of 20 for a direct hit to the genitalia.


If this happened to my daughter you would see a news story about

" Local father who's daughter was molested charged with the murder of the aquitted defendant"

"Police say " It appears that the accused allegedly stalked the man to his home, abducted him, took him to an undisclosed location to torture him for several days. He then both decapitated the man and cut off his genitalia. After tying both body parts at opposite ends of a shoe string he threw them over the power lines in front of the court house until they became tangled in the lines and hung there like so many tennis shoes."

Footage at six !!

One thing we can count on when it comes to your posts, Grate......




...you certainly don't mince words!

While I agree wholeheartedly with your anger over this issue, I'm a little sticky on the abuduction and power-line thing....

(...but, hey, that's just wimpy little me!...)

-he should still be rotting in prison.

-whatever

-Lou

EDIT: I just re-read your original post, and realized that you were referring to if it happened to your daughter - and, in retrospect, I would probably have similar feelings.

Americans have a love/hate relationship with lawyers -- if we're not making movies or TV series that put them on a pedal stool we're suggesting that all lawyers should be killed --what's that saying via Shakespeare "the first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" --- I've seen T shirts with this I believe. So if you hear an American suggesting to hang or kill a lawyer -- consider it just part of another American pastime
Most Americans don't actually mean it (most that is).


Justin