This article speaks to the utter lack of common sense that law enforcement officials can make. They go looking for a criminal, they see a guy run and hide in a bedroom, and they spray mace in his face. I can see how his behavior could seem threatening, and I can see the need for caution. I do not see the need to pepper spray and use excessive force against someone who isn't acting threatening towards you. On top of that, the DA and Judge should have the common sense to realize that if you have a mentally handicapped man, who does not speak English, lived at the home that was supposedly robbed, then he probably doesn't belong in jail.
A crime has to have three elements, act, harm and intent. He was hiding in a bathroom, not fighting the cops. I don't see that as an act of resisting arrest. (Since he was not told he was under arrest in the first place.) What harm was there, except to his own person, and his home? Did the police suffer injuries? No. Lastly, how can he have intended to resist arrest if he did not understand what was happening?
The Judge said he couldn't sympathize with the victim because he didn't speak in his own defense. Again, he has the mind of a child! He doesn't speak English! Furthermore, he isn't required by the Constitution to testify, and as a Judge, it is his job to look past that and try the case based on the facts. Lastly, why would you want to put him in jail for six months. It's ridiculous!
The last comment by the prosecutor, that he tried the case because the law said he had to, is also an issue. Prosecutors are given leeway on which cases they prosecute. He should have never taken that man to court. This was wrong, and I hope that people learn from this case, and the others like it.
Byron Siwelnor
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