No Case Simple As It Appears
Dear Ann Landers: Here is a news story from the Erie, Pa., Daily Times. My husband thought the jury’s verdict was right. I did not agree. We got into a big argument about it. What’s your opinion, Ann? M.M. in Sayre, Pa.
Dear M.M.: I would not presume to second-guess a jury that has heard all the evidence, so I’m printing the story and will let my readers decide for themselves. Here is the news story:
“A simple ‘no’ was usually enough to fend off guys who flirted with the topless dancer. Not so for the drunk who pinned her against an alley wall one night. She ended up kneeing him in the groin and shattering his jaw. Now she faces prison.
“Jurors decided last week that the slightly built woman could have walked away once she had the man down on the sidewalk. Instead, she continued to kick him in the head. The dancer could be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison following her aggravated assault conviction. The jury of eight men and four women needed only 20 minutes to find her guilty.
“The man, 27, married and the father of two, had bruises and cuts all over his face and needed surgery on his jaw. ‘He may have deserved a slap in the face,’ said one juror, ‘but he certainly did not deserve to have his face stomped on a dozen times.”’
And now, dear readers, here are a few more details on the story from the Medford, Ore., Mail Tribune: According to the dancer, she continued to kick the man because even when down, he grabbed the waist of her shorts in an apparent attempt to pull her to the ground. A witness testified that he had to pull the dancer off her attacker because she kicked him even after he had stopped resisting. No case is as simple as it appears.
Dear Ann Landers: “Jim” and I have been divorced for seven weeks. (The divorce was my idea.) We had been married 18 years and have two children.
Not long ago, a relative of mine passed away after an extended bout with cancer. I was at the funeral home with all my family, and everyone was very emotional and upset. I didn’t know that Jim had started to date again, but in he walked with some woman. Out of the whole room full of people, he spotted me and managed to wiggle his way straight to me with his arm around this woman, parading her within 2 inches of my face.
I’m sure he did this on purpose, although Jim says it was perfectly innocent. He told me he had a date with this woman, and she knew my deceased relative. When she heard the relative had passed away, she insisted on going to the viewing with Jim. I don’t believe him. I think he brought her there to humiliate me. Am I wrong to be upset? - Alexander City, Ala.
Dear Alex.: When you divorced Jim, that freed him up to date other women. I doubt that he meant to humiliate you. Running into him was pure chance. He had no way of knowing exactly when you would be in the mortuary. Sounds as if you are still torching for the guy. Get some professional help, and get over it.
Gem of the Day (Credit Curmudgeon’s Corner): A census taker knocked on the door of a backwoods shack. An old-timer came out and asked him what he wanted.
“The government sent me to find out how many people live in the United States,” he replied.
“I’m sorry you came all the way out here to ask me,” said the hillbilly, “‘cause I don’t have the faintest idea.”