Woman pleads no contest in toilet corpse case - called 'a victim'

Submitted by anthony on Tue, 2008-11-18 10:38

Story here. Excerpt:

'MAUSTON, Wis. - A woman accused of helping her religious leader hide a decaying corpse on her toilet so they could continue collecting her Social Security was convicted of a misdemeanor in a deal for her to testify against the leader, a prosecutor said Monday.

Tammy Lewis, 36, of Necedah, pleaded no contest to obstructing a police officer and was fined $350 in a plea bargain that defers prosecution of more serious charges. Juneau County Circuit John Roemer ordered her to pay the fine within 60 days or serve a seven-day jail sentence.
...
"We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey," Southworth said. "We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her."

A deferred prosecution agreement calls for Lewis to continue to receive mental health treatment and testify against Bushey in a trial set to begin in April, the prosecutor said.'

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Comments

"...understand the power, the mental power..."
Yes, women are mentally weak and must be forgiven or given light sentences because of this deficiencey. Where is NOW on this one?
Let Equality flourish, the chips fall where they may.

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Submitted by tonysprout on Tue, 2008-11-18 17:48

manonthestreet

But this is really an argument against the whole practice of plea bargaining. This process runs against the whole idea justice. In English justice it is forbidden to extract confessions by torture. Plea bargaining is exactly in the same category as it user the threat of a harsher sentence ( i.e the threat of torture in effect)in exchange for testifying in support of the prosecuting authorities. In effect it is evidence obtained under duress.

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Submitted by trotter on Tue, 2008-11-18 18:28