Why is Guiliani allowed to give a victim's impact statement?

[rpannier]

I saw this at HuufPo and I'm wondering myself. Did Guiliani lose a 12th cousin or something that I don't know about?

Can someone please explain to me why Rudy Giuliani gets to give a victim's impact statement at the Moussaoui penalty phase hearing? Which family member did Guiliani lose in the attacks?

Here's the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristen-breitweiser/giulianis-deadly-impact_b_18564.html

[marmar]

1. I can hear the annoying lispiness now...

I cannot stand that man.

[YouthInAsia]

2. May I ask why ANYONE is giving a victims impact statement?

At last check, Moussaoui DIDNT HAVE A HAND IN 9/11. This guy is being scapegoated. And how are the flight 93 tapes relevant in this case? That is so totally inflammatory.

[DemInDistress]

3. King Rudy the Tyrant lost many firemen friends,, they were like

his family. More importantly King Rudy needs to explain why he permitted "crime scene" evidence to be shipped off for melting, much of it to China. Those steel beams would have exposed the crime family for the MURDERS they committed.
Second, why isn't King George the Imbecile on trial? He had far more information than Moussouai,yet he's still free.

Too bad a beam didn't land on Rudy's head.

[aquart]

10. Simply shameful.

And I don't mean Giuliani.

I am simply disgusted to read such vitriolic drivel which automatically discounts the humanity of someone who was actually on the site, and had to flee for his life like everyone else.

I expect Giuliani made many strange decisions in those weeks. We were people in shock. People in shock aren't supposed to make life-changing decisions. But he had to because it was his job and he didn't die when the buildings fell while he was standing right there.

And he didn't behave like a king. He behaved like the mayor of all New Yorkers, and he has nothing to be ashamed of in that. Unlike the rest of the nation, New York City actually had a leader for those horrible days.

I will never fault him for that. Never.

[theobscure]

13. so Rudy had all the crime scene evidence at ground zero...

immediately (to the detriment of the health and lifespan of the workers) removed under machine gun guard on dump trucks with global positioning systems, cut up, and shipped off to China over the course of 3 weeks because he was in shock? I think we should expect a little more from our leaders than that.

And he had to flee for his life like everyone else? Was everyone else in the towers given advance warning that the building they were in was going to collapse? I guess people will believe whatever they have to believe.

[aquart]

16. What utter nonsense.

Truly. What garbage.

Is Giuliani a robot? We were trying to find bodies so we could have funerals.

But if you're talking about the first few weeks...where do you suggest we should have put that toxic waste? Long Island? Staten Island? WE WERE DIGGING FOR OUR PEOPLE!

And in the beginning we thought we could get some out alive. If we could just get the debris out of there.

Do you even think when you type? Aside from the paranoid disinformation-spewing nastiness, it doesn't even make logical sense in context.

I can't help it. I feel real hatred when I read evil stupidity of this nature.

[DemInDistress]

15. sorry..KING RUDY IS AND WAS A "FUCKING TYRANT"

DONT FALL FOR THAT, "AMERICA'S MAYOR SHIT" do you live in NYC? I do. Were you "fucked by Rudy?" I WAS..

A FORMER PROSECUTOR AND HE QUICKLY SELLS OFF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER STEEL...WAKE UP !! FUNNY HOW YOU CAN BE FOOLED.

[aquart]

17. Shouting doesn't make this less garbage.

Yelling doesn't make insanity true.

Tell me, where were we supposed to put this debris, WITH OUR PEOPLE UNDER IT, while you conducted your idiotic investigation?

And, until you can come to terms with the basic biological fact that Republicans are also human, you won't understand anything about anything.

[DemInDistress]

21. you put the debris in Fresh Kills dump..its was closed 9 months earlier

and remains closed today. There was AMPLE ROOM. Many hundreds of acres of land where BTW microscopic particles of PEOPLE still remain within the DEBRIS. The fact that KING RUDY THE TYRANT allowed CRIME SCENE evidence to be hauled off for scrap (much went to China) makes him guilty of "INCOMPETENCE,AIDING AND ABETTING" a stupid man indeed !!
If you believe KING RUDY was a hero I got a bridge to sell you. The facts are the facts many ideas that arose came from KING RUDY'S staff who didn't receive any credit. All the scumbag could boast about is this,when he was informed he couldn't go east,west or south your fearless man chimed this beauty," well then lets go north" GREAT MOVE RUDY!!
as for being a hero please don't be fooled. KING RUDY was no more than a "GLORIFIED PALLBEARER" representing the City of New York. And, he never attended a funeral for the average joe. Just his fireman friends. KING RUDY had a fetish for FIREMEN.
Bet you'd vote for him !!! (rotf) how easily some are fooled.
One more thing did you know KING RUDY supported NYPD who killed 4 people at a traffic light?
scan my journal its still unfinished but will be this year if hopefully KING RUDY decides to run for POTUS.

REPUBLICANS ARE HUMAN ??? ROTFLMFAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Stranger]

22. None of what you posted addresses the question of why he is testifying.

Nor the bizarre "trial" that is going on in this case.

[Inland]

4. Yeah, Giuliani is going to run for president on it.

It's hard to say, but he and several other politicians are working hard to profit off it.

[smoochpooch]

14. I know, I can see the ads now

sleeves rolled up, marching down the street flanked by FDNY honchos, flag waving in the background, now cue the music- ON 9/11, ONE MAN STOOD UP TO THE TERRORISTS.... He'll use it all he can, even though 9/11 will have happened 7 years ago. 9/11 was one of the biggest failures in our history, yet those failures are always glossed over. F him and Bush for pretending to be heroic- they didn't do shit.

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. Anyone affected by a crime can give a victim impact statement.

They provide context to the people that determine sentences. The purpose isn't to force an outcome, but to recognize that crime impacts many people and to give people a voice.

Guiliani can give a victim impact statement. It's up to the judge to determine its worth.

[rpannier]

8. Thanks

I appreciate it. I was unaware. I thought it was only family members or those close to the victims, like a girlfriend, or a neighbor that were allowed to do that.
What you said makes sense.
Thanks again.

[philosophie_en_rose]

11. To be honest, it usually is.

Only people really invested in the situation take the time to speak to the court. Usually to tell the court about the victim, so the court knows the real person that was killed, etc. (Also, remember this only happens AFTER conviction).

[Atman]

6. SHOWTIME!

It'll make great GOP video! What other possible reason could there be?

[aquart]

7. Because a building fell on him.

Are you serious? Really? Giuliani was there, at the WTC, when the towers fell. He, with the others, had to run for his life. People he'd been speaking to moments before, were dead moments later.

And robomayor kept going. Kept working. Kept all of us together.

Do you honestly believe that because he was famous, or the mayor, or a Republican, that going thru that day on that spot would have no effect on him????

Yes. Giuliani is fully entitled to give a victim's statement. He was there. It happened to him. He was lucky enough to live. But he knows it was only luck.

[rpannier]

12. To be honest...

and I addressed it with another person, I was under the mistaken assumption that it was only immediate family and those very close to the victim or victims that were allowed to give these kinds of statements.
I was concerned that he was receiving preferential treatment because he was someone politically connected, so they had allowed him to speak.

[aquart]

18. He was one of the victims. He's entitled to speak as a victim.

I don't see why that's so hard to understand.

[rpannier]

20. And I understand that...

now.
Sorry, if you're so offended.

[dchill]

9. Probably because of all those...

contracts he lost on 9/11.

[malaise]

19. To help the campaign n/t