Do the supposed good works of criminals, miscreants and
tyrants excuse their bad behavior? For
example, if I save a life am I now fully empowered, entitled and enabled to
murder an innocent at random? May I arbitrarily
take the life I just saved?
I have an acquaintance (NOT a friend, simply someone I
know) currently serving 8-10 for vehicular manslaughter. The individual in question “pounded” over a
dozen shots of liquor at a gathering and then hopped in his vehicle and
proceeded to crash head on with another vehicle, killing the driver and
critically injuring the driver’s 3 grandchildren. His BAC content at the scene was over
.20. Note that the legal limit in FL is
.08. During the pleadings and at the
trial, everyone said but “Joe” is such a super guy! Everyone likes him! He is the life of the party! He has 4 kids of his own! He was in the Air Force for 20 years! You
never met a nicer guy!
OK, so let us, in our utter magnanimity, assume that “Joe”
is in fact a truly super guy… does that give him a pass on breaking the law and
killing someone in the process? I say
that is an unqualified NO as whatever “nice” things “Joe” has done in the past
do NOT place him above the law and rules of good behavior. “Joe” broke the law and behaved with a
complete disregard for the safety of others, resulting in the death of another
and the injury of several others. “Joe”
BELONGS in Jail. People like “Joe” are
the reason we HAVE jails!
It is noteworthy that the Judge, upon hearing all the
pleading in Joe’s favor, was lenient with the sentencing. FL law generally calls for a sentence in
excess of TWENTY (20) years in cases of DUI manslaughter. So, “Joe” got a semi-pass on his bad
behavior. Deserved pass? No.
It is also noteworthy, but not legally relevant, that “Joe”
was not the “Saint” that the resident apologista made him out to be. As someone who knows a lot of people who know
“Joe”, “Joe” was known to have done the following: Commit adultery; pursue sexual affairs without
disclosing STD status; used various scummy legal tricks to avoid paying child
support; verbal spousal abuse; verbal and physical child abuse; frequent public
drunkenness; frequent DUI (never cited); DUI with children in the car (never cited); At
least one other DUI vehicle crash (never cited). “Joe” also attempted to recant his
confession and tried to claim it wasn’t he driving the car at the time, even
though it was HIS car involved in the crash and he was standing right next to
it when police arrived! I guess your “Transporter”
must have malfunctioned that day, RIGHT “Joe”!
I suppose you folks have noticed that I’ve been quiet for
the past couple of months. A few
reasons: Busy at work, busy with holiday
prep, lots going on in my volunteer work, etc… I’d also run out of things to
say for the interim. I don’t like saying the same thing
over and over, and this is not a “news” site.
My peers at other sites keep everyone up to date on the latest
pet-related outrage.
In any case, I recently found out that someone had left a comment
on my “Monsters
Among Us” essay. That involved a
Rottweiler miller causing the death of a neighbor back in September. The comment was worthy of another essay:
“Jerry Lenton has
been a friend of mine for over fifteen years and I've never known a kinder,
gentler, more generous and generally all around good guy. I was not aware that
he owned all those dogs nor do I know why he owned them, but his owning dogs
does not speak to the character of this man. I would like to suggest that y'all
should stay on topic and stick to discussing the dog situation and leave his
vocation and religion out of it as that is in no way related to the issue at
hand. I have no first hand info about the dog situation, but I do have
significant first hand knowledge of Jerry and his character and none of the
comments above are correct. It's ok to have an opinion, misguided as it may be,
but please don't presume to comment on something you know absolutely nothing
about. Jerry is a good man, a great guy and a true man of God, and no I don't
go to his church and have never set foot in it. BTW, I own 10 dogs myself, not
rottweilers or pit bulls, however I am an animal lover and I rescue unwanted dogs
and find good homes for them. My dogs might damage your hearing from barking to
greet you or they may lick you to death, but that's the extent of the harm they
would inflict on anyone.”
There is absolutely nothing substantive in the above comment. The author has done absolutely
nothing to excuse Lenton in any way. Jerry
is a “Man of God”? SURE he was, and so
were the Catholic Priests who molested young boys…. The point is??? Hey, I’m sure Bin Laden was a Man Of God,
too!
How does “Knowing someone for 15 years” excuse their bad
behavior? If I had known Ted Bundy for
20 years would that get him off the hook?
Hey, Ted is a super guy… let’s just turn him loose!
The bottom line is, I don’t care if Lenton really WAS the
greatest guy around. Everything Lenton’s
friends say about him is curious but totally irrelevant. Similar to “Joe”, Lenton’s disregard for the
law, health and safety of others lead to a horrifying death. And, YES, it is illegal to turn your dogs
loose! The fact that Lenton MAY have
done some good things in the course of his life does NOT give him a pass on his
reckless conduct.
When you OWN a dog, YOU OWN everything it does! QED.
As a footnote, it appears that the Lenton’s ARE being held
accountable! If Jerry’s buds can
make the case that Jerry truly IS a super guy, maybe the judge will cut the
sentence in half. I think 8-10 for
Lenton would be appropriate.
