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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| 9th Circuit Panel Overturns Conviction For Presidential Death Threat |
| 2011-07-20 |
| The conviction of a southern California man for saying that someone should assassinate then-candidate Barack Obama, has been overturned by a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court. Walter Bagdasarian of La Mesa, was found guilty two years ago by a federal judge in San Diego of violating a statute prohibiting threats to kill, kidnap or do bodily harm to a major presidential candidate. The majority opinion said that Bagdasarian's vitriolic epithets were "particularly repugnant" because they endorsed violence. But the panel concluded that a reasonable person wouldn't have taken seriously his drunken diatribe in an online Yahoo! chat room at 1 a.m. Among the comments he had posted was an observation that Obama "will have a 50 cal in the head soon" and that someone should "shoot the [racist slur]." "There are many unstable individuals in this nation to whom assault weapons and other firearms are readily available, some of whom might believe that they were doing the nation a service were they to follow Bagdasarian's commandment," said the appeals panel opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt(*). "There is nevertheless insufficient evidence that either statement constituted a threat or would be construed by a reasonable person as a genuine threat by Bagdasarian against Obama." The ruling noted that Bagdasarian did have in his possession .50-caliber weapons and ammunition but said the reference to a bullet in Obama's head was "a prediction that conveyed no explicit or implicit threat on the part of Bagdasarian that he himself would kill or injure Obama." The majority opinion written by Reinhardt and joined by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski also said Bagdasarian's call to "shoot" Obama wasn't an offense under the statute used to convict him because the law doesn't criminalize "predictions or exhortations to others to injure or kill the president." Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw dissented in part, arguing that there was enough evidence to find him guilty of threatening harm. (*) Judge Reinhardt is the judge that overturned the will of California's voters on Prop. 8, which forbade homosexual marriage, while concealing the fact that he was also a homosexual. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #10 [SGT. SCHULTZ here]. OTOH, pragmatically POTUS BAMMER = ANY SUCCESSOR is at risk come "2012" as Radical Islam continues to expands its Jihad outside of AFPAK [read, CONUS-NORAM, Americas] + espec GOES NUKULAAR. And now theres "OWG/GLOBAL CALIPHATE" HAPPINESS, thanks to consequences of the well-meaning Jasmine movements. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-07-20 20:35 |
| #9 IANAL, but I seem to recall a Supreme Court decision from the Lyndon Johnson era where somebody said something about shooting Johnson. The Supreme Court ruled that it was protected free speech, since it was "obvious" that the defendant did not actually plan to kill Johnson, and he wasn't urging people to do so. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2011-07-20 18:33 |
| #8 I expected, from the headline, that it'd be open season on Bush. Imagine my surprise when I read it was OK to threaten The One. Oh, wait! I get it! It's a trap! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2011-07-20 18:25 |
| #7 Reinhardt is well known as an hard left activist judge. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2011-07-20 17:02 |
| #6 Anonymoose: Judge ReinhardtÂ’s spouse is Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberies UnionÂ’s Southern California affiliate. You're thinking of Judge Vaughn Walker who is gay. Walker was nominated to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan and renominated by George H. W. Bush (not the 9th circuit court of appeals). |
| Posted by: Clomoper 8922 2011-07-20 15:07 |
| #5 I don't know, sounds to me like the 9th circuit made a good call here, for a change. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-07-20 14:41 |
| #4 2008: [Jesse] Jackson was caught Sunday during a break before a live interview on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" whispering to a studio guest that he would like to castrate Obama. I guess Jesse set the standard for hold harmless in this sort of thing. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-07-20 13:10 |
| #3 That 9th circus needs to be broken apart. It is the worst Judicial body in the US save the DOJ. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-07-20 11:13 |
| #2 It all depends upon what the mean of 'is' is. Lawyers: Those who can take the 5 percent of the gray area of the law and make it 95 percent. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-07-20 09:38 |
| #1 This may have a hidden meaning, especially in California. It the Spanish language, there is an imperfect verb form in common use, which says approximately says: "Somebody should do something about that." It arose as a kind of defensive speech in old Mexico, because if you said "I should do something about that", you could get shot, and if you said "He should do something about that", *he* could get shot. So, by excusing this lout, this panel of the 9th Circuit could be setting up a judicial excuse for bad Mexicans to hide behind when they make violent threats. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-07-20 09:18 |