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On Monday, a US federal appeals court sided against a former Philadelphia police officer who has been in jail 17 months because he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination. He had refused to comply with a court order commanding him to unlock two hard drives the authorities say contain child porn.
The 3-0 decision (PDF) by the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals means that the suspect, Francis Rawls, likely will remain jailed indefinitely or until the order (PDF) finding him in contempt of court is lifted or overturned. However, he still can comply with the order and unlock two FileVault encrypted drives connected to his Apple Mac Pro. Using a warrant, authorities seized those drives from his residence in 2015. While Rawls could get out from under the contempt order by unlocking those drives, doing so might expose him to other legal troubles.
In deciding against Rawls, the court of appeals found that the constitutional rights against being compelled to testify against oneself were not being breached. That's because the appeals court, like the police, agreed that the presence of child porn on his drives was a "foregone conclusion." The Fifth Amendment, at its most basic level, protects suspects from being forced to disclose incriminating evidence. In this instance, however, the authorities said they already know there's child porn on the drives, so Rawls' constitutional rights aren't compromised.
[...] The suspect's attorney, Federal Public Defender Keith Donoghue, was disappointed by the ruling.
"The fact remains that the government has not brought charges," Donoghue said in a telephone interview. "Our client has now been in custody for almost 18 months based on his assertion of his Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination."
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @11:20AM (2 children)
"It's hard to want to defend this individual given the circumstance "
Why? Because you follow Jesus and his raising of women over men and his pushing of men into the ground?
The real God, who Jesus proclaimed was "the adversary": the father of the Jews; allows men to have female children as brides, even when the man has raped that young girl. ( discussion: http://pastebin.com/mzFJyxea [pastebin.com] )
Dtronmy chapter 22, verse 28, (also see Numbers 31 for wartime conquests as opposed to peace time)
The man is Ba'....(CensorshipFilter)....al: overlord, of the female. That is the title of the man. Just as the pagan god "Baalzebub" is the "lord of the flies"
You people who oppose men having female children as brides, who say let us go follow this other ruler/judge/god instead (Jesus, American Law, Women's demands) are to be klld on the spot.
Sometimes the muslims do this: they are correct to do so.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday March 22 2017, @04:14PM (1 child)
Hey Mikee, you ever gonna make good on those death threats you gave me on IRC like a year and a half ago? I'm waiting. Every day I draw breath is another black eye for you, you sick fucking pedo.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @10:37AM
Never talked to you in my life. I do hope all feminists die however and celebrate when Putin or the Taliban murder one.