Town rallies around the man who killed Molester

[Danno 1,228]

Town rallies around accused killer of molester

He is pleading no contest to shooting Boy Scout leader he says abused him

Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36257199/ns/today-today_people/#ixzz0konochXb

By Mike Celizic

TODAYshow.com contributor

updated 10:06 a.m. ET, Thurs., April 8, 2010

Usually, when someone who’s been a mainstay of a community gets shot and killed in his own home, there’s a public outcry to bring his killer to justice. But not in the idyllic Pacific Coast town of Fort Bragg, Calif., where the citizenry has risen up in support of the man who pulled the trigger.

Aaron Vargas has been in jail ever since Feb. 8, 2009, when police say he shot and killed Darrell McNeill, the man he alleges sexually abused him when he was just 11 years old. After the shooting, 12 other men came forward to say that McNeill, a former Boy Scout leader and popular member of the community, had also abused them. Some had reported the abuse but law enforcement officials took no action.

When the truth came out, the town rallied behind the 32-year-old Vargas. Citizens held demonstrations demanding that he be freed from jail. T-shirts supporting his cause are being sold, with the proceeds going to his legal defense. Cars sport bumper stickers supporting him. Even McNeill’s widow is defending Vargas.

“They understand the situation, and they know Aaron to be a very kind and gentle person and that he doesn’t deserve to be locked up,” Vargas’ sister, Mindy Galliani, told TODAY’s Meredith VieiraThursday in New York.

‘He’s a victim’

The Mendocino County prosecutor, who initially wanted to push for first-degree murder and 50 years in prison for Vargas, has changed her mind after the outpouring of support for him. This week, Vargas was offered and accepted a deal in which he was to plead no contest Thursday afternoon to voluntary manslaughter.

TODAY

Aaron Vargas will plead no contest to killing Darrell McNeill, in exchange for a light sentence.

In exchange, he will receive a relatively short sentence — perhaps as little as the time he’s already served, and certainly no longer than six years.

Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36257199/ns/today-today_people/#ixzz0koo98Qik

[Nagishkaw 510]

Some had reported the abuse but law enforcement officials took no action.

I can certainly believe that. It is the same here in my town. Police corruption at it's finest.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If you take the law into your own hands and plan and carry out an execution, then you belong in jail. Without exception.

It's terrible that he was abused, but you can't defend premeditated murder.

[alienlovechild 75]

Aaron Vargas has been in jail ever since Feb. 8, 2009, when police say he shot and killed Darrell McNeill, the man he alleges sexually abused him when he was just 11 years old. After the shooting, 12 other men came forward to say that McNeill, a former Boy Scout leader and popular member of the community, had also abused them. Some had reported the abuse but law enforcement officials took no action.

When the truth came out, the town rallied behind the 32-year-old Vargas. Citizens held demonstrations demanding that he be freed from jail. T-shirts supporting his cause are being sold, with the proceeds going to his legal defense. Cars sport bumper stickers supporting him. Even McNeill’s widow is defending Vargas.

There's a problem with that from a public policy standpoint. Killing a guy 21 years after the crime negates a heat of passion defense. Luckily, other people backed his side of the story but what would happen if that hadn't been the case?

Why didn't Vargas just beat the ####### of him? Wouldn't it be more satisfying to watch him crawling around in pain? I'll bet Vargas will claim he did it so McNeil wouldn't molest any other kids. The jury will probably pick a lesser crime if offered a choice because there's no one more widely hated than child molestors.

[Pooky 3,844]

If you take the law into your own hands and plan and carry out an execution, then you belong in jail. Without exception.

It's terrible that he was abused, but you can't defend premeditated murder.

But if, as the article stated, the abuses were reported and law enforcement took no action, what do you do?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

But if, as the article stated, the abuses were reported and law enforcement took no action, what do you do?

You don't accept it and you work with other victims via the courts and the media to expose the guy and get him jailed.

Come on, it doesn't take that much imagination or lateral thinking.

[alienlovechild 75]

You don't accept it and you work with other victims via the courts and the media to expose the guy and get him jailed.

Come on, it doesn't take that much imagination or lateral thinking.

It does require a little research on California's SOL.

"In regards to child molestation, there has been a series of great upheavals regarding the statute of limitations in California. In the early 1990s, the legislature passed a bill that retroactively waived the statute of limitations for all crimes of child molestation, meaning even people who were previously immune to prosecution could suddenly be arrested. This law was overturned as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a recent case, so now the law's retroactive provision is eliminated.

What remains is a 10 year statute of limitations for child molestation. HOWEVER, the crime can also be prosecuted within one year of WHENEVER a victim tells the police (even past the 10 year mark). This sounds rather contradictory, because this means that the 10 year limitation is essentially pointless, but it is the current law of the land. The California legislature is constantly debating about this, so the law may change in the near future. You should talk to a California attorney familiar with these cases for the most up to date information."

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/california-statute-of-limitations-on-sexual-abuse.html

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Regardless it doesn't justify someone taking the law into their own hands and committing murder.

[Pooky 3,844]

You don't accept it and you work with other victims via the courts and the media to expose the guy and get him jailed.

Come on, it doesn't take that much imagination or lateral thinking.

What, to see all the accusations getting swept under the carpet and the molester going about life as normal? No, it certainly doesn't. That's small-town America, which happens more often than people like to think.

Trying to bring down a long-standing pillar of the community here can be extremely tough, when the grandees of a community rally round "one of theirs". It's even tougher, when their crime involves abuse like this, where even if one or two come forward, they can be sidelined, or ignored altogether, because the other 95% of the victims are so ashamed they cannot bring themselves to level accusations publically.

So, sometimes imagination and lateral thinking just aren't enough.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

What, to see all the accusations getting swept under the carpet and the molester going about life as normal? No, it certainly doesn't. That's small-town America, which happens more often than people like to think.

Trying to bring down a long-standing pillar of the community here can be extremely tough, when the grandees of a community rally round "one of theirs". It's even tougher, when their crime involves abuse like this, where even if one or two come forward, they can be sidelined, or ignored altogether, because the other 95% of the victims are so ashamed they cannot bring themselves to level accusations publically.

So, sometimes imagination and lateral thinking just aren't enough.

The truth of these things always comes out. And the guy who pulled the trigger can expect to spend much of the rest of his life in jail- his future ruined not only by the abuse, but by having murdered someone. I wonder if it was really worth it.

Either you believe in law and order, in which case you use the appropriate channels to fight for yourself; or you don't and we have mob rule and vigilante justice. It's really quite simple.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The truth of these things always comes out.

Always? You know that's not true.

[Pooky 3,844]

The truth of these things always comes out. And the guy who pulled the trigger can expect to spend much of the rest of his life in jail- his future ruined not only by the abuse, but by having murdered someone. I wonder if it was really worth it.

Either you believe in law and order, in which case you use the appropriate channels to fight for yourself; or you don't and we have mob rule and vigilante justice. It's really quite simple.

How much time in jail? There is a good chance he will be sentenced to time served. Read the OP article again.

And how long do you advocate using the "appropriate channels" if and when you find out that these channels are covering for the perpetrator?

I'm with w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r on this one. Sometimes, the only way the truth of these things comes out takes an act like this, because without it, the truth would never have been known.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

There is no way anyone should get off for time served or have the charges reduced for shooting someone dead in retaliation for a year's old crime.

That's a peculiarity of the US justice system - that public prosecutors and district attorneys make decisions as much on their own future political aspirations than on what the law demands. There shouldn't be any compromises as far as this is concerned.

As to "how long", how long is a piece of string? Killing someone isn't a "reasonable" act, regardless of how justified the individual believes it to be - using the system is the only way. That the guy would commit this sort of crime, years after the alleged abuse took place suggests that he is not a balanced individual, contrary to the statements made to the opposite.

Seriously, I don't understand how anyone can endorse murder. It runs entirely counter to the idea of a civilized society.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Human history is full of tales of people who 'broke the law' for the greater good.

Amartya Sen, professor at Harvard and nobel laureate (economics), has a book out called The Idea of Justice. In it, he describes in some detail the ancient Hindu legal concepts of "niti" and "nyaya". Here's an accurate description of the concepts from a blogger:

"Niti," translated as "organizational propriety and correctness," refers to the institutions that should be created in order to have a just society. "Nyaya" on the other hand, translated as "a comprehensive idea of realized justice," is inescapably linked to the world and the lives of the people. Sen stated that the idea of justice in Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I's claim that justice ought to be done even though the world may perish, is that of "niti." However, justice done at the expense of a catastrophe in which the world may perish does not result in "nyaya."

It could be asked, by killing the molester has "nyaya" been achieved? Was killing him necessary to do it? I don't know the answer to that but it is clear that had the victim done nothing and left it up to "niti" (the rules, strictly applied) then there would have been no actual justice.

[Pooky 3,844]

There is no way anyone should get off for time served or have the charges reduced for shooting someone dead in retaliation for a year's old crime.

That's a peculiarity of the US justice system - that public prosecutors and district attorneys make decisions as much on their own future political aspirations than on what the law demands. There shouldn't be any compromises as far as this is concerned.

As to "how long", how long is a piece of string? Killing someone isn't a "reasonable" act, regardless of how justified the individual believes it to be - using the system is the only way. That the guy would commit this sort of crime, years after the alleged abuse took place suggests that he is not a balanced individual, contrary to the statements made to the opposite.

Seriously, I don't understand how anyone can endorse murder. It runs entirely counter to the idea of a civilized society.

So what do you do if the system doesn't work, or, worse still, works against you?