Thread: Hans Reiser found guilty

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/200...-guilty-o.html

Hans Reiser was found guilty of the murder of his estranged wife with whom he was fighting over child custody in a messy divorce.
There was no body, and no murder weapon, only a TON of circumstantial evidence.

For those who don't know Hans, he is a brilliant programmer responsible for a linux filesystem (ReiserFS) but he is also extremely arrogant and condescending, paranoid and with as much street smarts as rain man. He managed to insult the judge and jury several times.

It could still have gone either way until he decided to ignore his lawyer's advice, and took the stand himself for 9 days.
Up there, he was not only his arrogant self, but he was found to lie (and admitted as much) and produced the wildest explanations possible for the holes in his story.
In short, he was his own worst enemy.

I am not going to present any of the evidence or testimonies, because there are too much (see like for court proceedings). For all the evidence presented I think he was guilty, and would have been able to get away with it as well if he hadn't shot himself in both feet several times with a shotgun.

One of the major reasons I think he did it is that I don't think any mother who loves her children would leave them with someone like Hans. Especially since she was fighting custody battle to get them.

Sounds like the justice system did its job, and convicted a man who doesn't deserve to be on the streets. Wether he was convicted for murder or for his own arrogance and stupidity I thank the jury for freeing us from one more a$$!^!ole

Hans didnt do it (he told me so)

while I know from experience with kernel trees and linux development that Reiser is a huge jerk to everyone he meets, and I do not doubt in the least that he is crazy enough to kill someone, I must say I'm pretty disappointed that he was convicted without any solid evidence.

insulting or not, there should be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that someone committed murder before you lock them up for 25 to life.

ETA: I do not support Hans as a person, nor do I care for his FS because of the horrific flaws in its implementation of fsck.

The general concensus on /. (and I agree) is that he talked himself in jail.
Without his testimony there would have been heaps of reasonable doubt.

But he insisted on taking the stand, and then lied, fumbled, 'forgot' and ranted.
In other words, he took all doubt from his case and replaced it with lies or outright improbable stories.

It never ceases to amaze me that people can be so smart and yet so stupid.
Had he taken the fifth, he could have been a free man.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

Sounds like the justice system did its job, and convicted a man who doesn't deserve to be on the streets. Wether he was convicted for murder or for his own arrogance and stupidity I thank the jury for freeing us from one more a$$!^!ole

Man, that’s a pretty harsh statement. In my opinion, I wouldn't want to convict somebody of murder just because of their arrogance and stupidity.

Our justice system has been wrong many, many times.

He wasn't convicted of murder he was conviceted of being an inhuman jerk with no ability to connect with his fellow man and participate sanely in society.

Which really is the bigger crime? Killing one member of society or proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that you believe yourself above everyone else and unwilling to play by the rules of common decency.

Frsankly I expect his conviction to be overturned but I truely hope he gets taught a little perspective by this whole experience.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

Sounds like the justice system did its job, and convicted a man who doesn't deserve to be on the streets. Wether he was convicted for murder or for his own arrogance and stupidity I thank the jury for freeing us from one more a$$!^!ole

Interesting ideas you have regarding the justice system.

Just because someone lacks social grace does not mean that they deserve to be locked up. Please throw any jury notices you receieve directly in the trash can.

It reminds me of the case with the woman who was accused of poisoning her marine husband. Although the initial testing of the guys tissue showed arsenic and the later tests proved otherwise, I think the jury convicted her on her actions after his death even without any kind of physical evidence. Scary when juries convict people of murder without any kind of evidence. Luckily she was freed after 2 years. I feel sorry for her children.

Originally Posted by stupidyank

Interesting ideas you have regarding the justice system.

Just because someone lacks social grace does not mean that they deserve to be locked up. Please throw any jury notices you receieve directly in the trash can.

Agree