by Big Daddy Weaver » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:26 pm
I'm not sure that anyone is playing judge, jury, executioner, etc.
Here's what we know per the media reports:
There was an incident.
The victim reported the incident.
The police issued an arrest warrant which stated - per the media report - that the victim was "mentally incapacitated and physically helpless at the time of the offense."
Those phrases "mentally incapacitated" and "physically helpless" are legal phrases that mean something specific.
William Birch was arrested.
Birch was charged with sexual assault.
Birch confessed according to police cited in multiple reports.
Birch was held on 50K bond.
He had a hearing scheduled for yesterday (Monday)
So, I'm not sure what judgments are being made. The phrasing from the police report certainly means something specific in the context of North Carolina law. When I cited the North Carolina statute (and other related statutes), I was not offering speculation but simply providing informed insight into what that phrasing could mean or likely means.
Dave M. knows what Birch confessed to him. We don't know specific details of what Birch confessed to the police. But we can clearly take away something from the fact that Birch was arrested for sexual assault and the police reported that he subsequently confessed.
Wade's only error (if we can even call it that) - from what I can tell - is that he made the unequivocal assertion that the victim was "drugged." Wade could have nuanced that a bit. The "drugging" is a possible implication of the warrant's phrasing if not the likely implication.
Nevertheless, Wade's assertion was not from ignorance.
After all, "mentally incapacitated and physically helpless" does indeed mean something...
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