Janklow pleads NOT GUILTY to charge of Involuntary Manslaughter...

[TryingToWarnYou]

<http://www.ksfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=1459333&nav=0w0jIDQw>

This piece of shit has the balls to plead innocent...

Yeah, I guess the car ran the stop sign at an excessive speed all by itself...

Make the victims family suffer through a trial thats going to end in his conviction anyway...

Party of Responsibility my ass...

[patdem]

1. Link...in LBN...you need a link or a site of CNN...breaking..etc

[TryingToWarnYou]

5. Whoops, sorry. I just heard it on CNN N/T

.

[FlemingsGhost]

2. I wouldn't be so sure.

"Make the victims family suffer through a trial thats (sic) going to end in his conviction anyway..."

Where will this case be tried? Who's the judge that will hear this case? (nudge, nudge... wink, wink.)

[goobergunch]

3. LBN Rules: Please change your post to read as follows (contains link):

SUBJECT: Janklow's Arraignment

Congressman Bill Janklow pleaded innocent today to second-degree manslaughter, speeding, reckless driving, and failure to stop in the crash that killed Randy Scott of Hardwick, MN.

more...http://www.ksfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=1459333&nav=0w0jIDQw

[Zirconia]

12. Janklow

I am a newbie!

I am curious as to how you can write all this about Janklow but not remember Sen. Ted Kennedy. I agree Janklow should be tossed in prison and the key thrown away. The man was drinking and speeding, what did he think would happen! He is as guilty as they come.

However, we must be careful with selective memory. Chapaquidic was no innocent accident either.

[Wickerman]

13. Chappaquiddick isn't at issue here

and was some 30 years ago at any rate. Next, I don't recall reading that Janklow was drinking - reference? Chappaquiddick, kay?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

14. One minor difference is that the Kennedy incident has been through

the legal system and hearings and thirty years of hyperbole. Janklow's trial is NOW. Therefore the term LATE BREAKING NEWS fits here.

[TryingToWarnYou]

15. I agree with you about Kennedy and no one is using "selective memory" here

Kennedy was completely at fault in the Chappquidick (sp?) death IMO. However, as it has been pointed out, Kennedys issue is over 30 years old and not considered on topic for LBN.

[boxster]

17. Janklow wasn't drinking.

He ran a stop sign at a corner in rural South Dakota that he'd been through "a thousand times", quoting him. 71mph in a 55mph zone. He has numerous other violations in the past dozen or so years.

Welcome to DU, by the way!

[maxanne]

19. Kennedy isn't the issue

here, Janklow is. Must Democrats respond with typical right wing diversions?

Oh, and it's Chappaquiddick by the way. :eyes:

[newyawker99]

20. Hi Zirconia!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Jim Sagle]

22. Buh-bye!

[bluestateguy]

25. I don't have time to worry about Chappaquidick

Or any other scandal from 1969.

I am interested in Bill Janklow.

[frylock]

4. another link, from fux..

[mike_c]

6. yeah, but he apologised, right?

Doesn't that absolve him of responsibility?

[7th_Sephiroth]

8. Actually

it holds him completely responsible, as it is an admission of guilt.

[T Wolf]

7. repukes never pay

for their "mistakes."

Is Ollie North in prison?

Is Scarborough?

Is that Pennsylvania state rep?

Is Laura "Vehicular Homicide" Bush?


The answer is no. And this POS will walk as well. And probably stop at a bar on the way home from court, belt down a few, and get back behind the wheel.

[boxster]

9. I think he might actually be doomed this time.

I grew up in SD and still have relatives there who I talk to quite often. There is so much animosity toward him right now and so many claims of a cover up that I think he might really lose this one. I think they have to treat it like he's a "normal" citizen, and with his record, that means jail time.

It certainly didn't help that he had several really questionable accidents prior to this one and a couple of near-misses at this exact corner.

Obviously, he could find a way out. It would be morbidly humorous to see farmers riot if he walks. Hehe. }(

[RapidCreek]

32. Well I grew up in Chicago and have lived in SD

on and off for the past 24 years. He'll walk. South Dakota doesn't enforce laws it doesn't want to enforce.

Just to give you an idea....in Spearfish SD, the City Finance Officer's husband owns a company known as Ainsworth Benning Construction. Ainsworth Benning is one of the largest building contractors in Western South Dakota....and gets the lions share of contracts for municipal work in Spearfish. Mrs. Benning holding the position she does is in direct violation of Title 6 of South Dakota Codified Law. Believe it or not, until a few years ago she actually opened the bids for municipal building contracts. I've pointed this violation of law out, both to the Lawrence County States Attorney and the South Dakota States Attorney. Neither would do anything about it. Ms. Benning has become extremely wealthy over the past 17 years as a result of both of these offices willingness to overlook the laws they are paid to enforce. She has been given free reign to broker construction deals for her husband construction company....and has taken very lucrative advantage of that freedom. Two months ago she was awarded Best City Finance Officer in South Dakota.

South Dakota also ranked last out of 26 states surveyed for Open Government. In addition they were the last state in the Union to allow cameras in the courtroom and judges very frequently issue gag orders. In the Better Government Associations recent Integrity Index South Dakota ranked dead last out of all 50 states.

He will walk.....I guarantee it. If he is convicted they will commute his sentence. Most people in this state are to busy working a couple 6 dollar an hour jobs to care about what Bill Janklow did or didn't do...much less whether or not he is convicted. Apathy runs high here....even when time allows a South Dakotan to inform himself or herself most prefer not to. Of all the states I have lived in, South Dakota is the most blatantly crooked....excepting perhaps, Florida.

RC

[Chovexani]

18. Unfortunately I think you're right

What the rest of us call criminal acts, Repukes call "youthful indiscretions".

Chalk another one up for the party of personal responsibility. :eyes:

[Buns_of_Fire]

31. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury...

Please note the location and extent of the damage to The Honorable Almighty Governor-cum-Congressman Janklow's car:

It will be noted that the damage is on the side of his car, not the front. The location of the damage indicates that Mr. Scott hit The Honorable Almighty Governor-cum-Congressman Janklow, not the other way around. Furthermore, the extent of the damage indicates that Mr. Scott was obviously traveling at an excessive rate of speed, and unable to stop when The Honorable Almighty Governor-cum-Congressman Janklow accidentally ran a stop sign for the umpty-umpth time, due to space aliens distracting him for the umpty-umpth time. Yes, The Honorable Almighty Governor-cum-Congressman Janklow has occasionally driven faster than the posted limit and has failed to stop at many stop signs, but who among us hasn't? Jesus taught us, "Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone." (Wipe tear from eye at this point) This was an unfortunate confluence of events, no doubt directed by space aliens, and you should consider this when you decide -- as I'm sure you will -- to find my client not guilty. The defense rests, your honor.

Now, would the jury buy that load of crap? Maybe, maybe not. Stranger things have happened. Look who we have as pResident. :shrug:

On edit: The Sioux Falls Argus Leader has an entire gallery of pictures, if you're so interested...

[CO Liberal]

10. He'll Change That Plea To Insanity......

He's crazy about driving fast.

:-)

[boxster]

11. In his mind, he had no choice

He has to claim he was confused or there was a phantom car. BTW, this is his third or fourth accident involving a phantom car that caused him to swerve/hit someone.

Otherwise, he goes to jail.

[dolstein]

16. Is he guilty? Hell, yeah. Can he be convicted? I dunno.

This guy has a history of reckless driving. He was speeding. And the other guy's dead. Of course he's guilty. But that doesn't mean that you're going to get a jury to convict him. Odds are that any jury is bound to include a few political supporters.

[SharonAnn]

21. That is an appropriate plea at this point. One is not required

to incriminate oneself. It is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove their case.

There is the opportunity for the accused to change please later if it seems appropriate.

Come on, all of us are entitled to require the prosecution to prove guilt.

[dflprincess]

26. A public apology could certainly be used by the prosecution

as part of their case.

[TryingToWarnYou]

27. Well, thats what the arraignment is all about...

You are legally required to give either a guilty or not guilty plea so that they can determine if the case goes to trial or to punishment (assuming a guilty plea). If Janklow had one molecule of humanity, he would have pled guilty and saved the taxpayers a pile of money, the victims family the grief of reliving the incident, an incident in which the victim will be shown in as negative of a light as the Defense can get away with regardless of the truth. Traffic investigation is a precise investigation. You have skid marks, points of impact, loads of physical evidence etc. Janklow was speeding and ran the stop sign as determined by the investigation leading up to the charge he now faces. Its not really a matter of guilt or innocence...he was at fault for the accident and thus the death of the other motorist.

[SharonAnn]

28. If he replies "Guilty" then he lays the groundwork for an

additional case against him, a Civil case perhaps from the victim's family. His insurance company may have required him to plead "Not Guilty" as his initial plea. It could have been that admitting guilt up front might mean that his insurance company wouldn't cover any civil damages. But who really knows with this small amount of information.

Also, the details of the state processes and state laws are not the same in every state.

BTW, could he have pled "Nolo Contendere"? "I don't contest"? It's not an admission of guilt but it allows the case to be decided without going to trial. Is that allowed in a case like this in South Dakota?

[TryingToWarnYou]

29. Yes, but...

Civil and criminal are two very different animals. Regardless of his plea at this point, he can be sued in civil court for wrongful death just like OJ was. The two processes are wholly independent of each other. Nolo Contendere might have been an option, but at least here in Texas, its "guilty but with an explanation". For purposes of the process of the arraignment he has to give a plea one way or the other.

It just makes me sick that he thumbed his nose at the laws for so long and then someone had to die and he has the nerve to claim that he isnt guilty.

What a piece of crap.

[RapidCreek]

33. It doesn't matter....

Whether he pleads guilty or not....he is still subject to a civil suit. One which, regardless of his criminal guilt or innocence, he can loose....and loose big.

RC

[agates]

34. Actually, taxpayers might have to pay

<snip> If a civil lawsuit is filed, the Federal Tort Claims Act allows the United States government to be substituted as the defendant if Janklow was traveling in his role as a congressman...<snip>

"If the FTCA applies, then the individual can't be sued and has no financial responsibility at all. It is the government's responsibility, not the individual's responsibility," Axelrad told Roll Call, a newspaper serving Capitol Hill.

http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/6867858.htm

[bluestateguy]

23. Let's hear it for former Congressman Janklow

I wonder how many phone messages from Karl Rove are on his answering machine.

[KharmaTrain]

24. This Bastard Should Be Charged With a Class A Felony

I saw this Repugnant POS in his "teary" news conference the other day and hold this bastard in total contempt.

It's been widely reported about this goon's led foot and how he bragged about it. This would be like an alcoholic (like Chimpster)not only making light of his problem, but showing he can consume even more. Too bad his license wasn't yanked years ago, and this sonofabitch wants us to feel sorry for him?

If Repugnicans were the paragons of virtue they claim, they'd have had this accused felon out of the House pending the outcome of his trial (and since it appears he will be pleading down, he's as good as a convicted felon) and then, if convicted, he should be expelled (like Trafficant)...either way, he cannot vote until his situation is resolved. If the fine folks of South Dakota have a problem with that, then either they can call for a quick recall or put pressure on the Repugnican governor and the national party to force this alleged murderer to stop serving in the public's name and at our expense.

I also heard that as a member of the House, Janklow can apply for you and me, the overtaxed tax payer to cover his legal expenses. Anyone know if that's true?

[TacticalPeek]

30. What's his angle? Self-defense?

Or maybe "I AM the federal government."