Criminal Law Blog
March 19, 2008
It Is SO Easy To Accuse, And Convict, When ...
It is so easy to accuse. Every 3rd grader who had some classmate tell lies about him knows this.
It is especially easy to accuse when you are a lying cop. The American Statesman
reported on March 19, 2008 that James Learmonth, a fired Austin Police Department officer lied in his report to bolster his accusation that a citizen was in possession of drugs and drug paraphenalia.
And it is so easy to convict, when you sit on a jury and choose to believe a lying cop because you think that “no cop would risk his career over this.” Because that possession of drug paraphenalia charge is usually just a Class C Misdemeanor (the same level as a parking ticket).
What did James Learmonth have to gain by lying in his report? Why in the world would he do that? If your answer is “I don’t know,” I beg you to think about it some more. If you still have no answer, talk about it with your friends and family.
And I beg you to stop thinking that “where there is smoke, there must be fire” when it comes to criminal allegations.
Because it is so easy to accuse.