Luke Heimlich

[bruiser.sixpack]

So “pleading” out is an admission of guilt?

If that is the case, then I would have fired that Lawyer post haste.

The story describes for the most part why his family decided to go along with the lawyers advice. Maybe he did it. Maybe he didn’t.

He took the plea. So he “accepted responsibility”. I don’t have the eye witness account. But, I would certainly be upset if that happened to my young child. But I would also make sure psychologists and medical doctors and anyone else could get me verifiable proof. I am sure as a parent my first inclination would be to be fuming mad at the supposed perpetrator, but after calming down, I would want to make sure as much as possible that the event actually happened, especially if it was my brother that was the accused.

 

[Ishmael]

I am sorry you had to go through that. I suspect very soon this thread will be locked.
I say that to say, too many times the serious of the charge becomes a rally cry by many to convict without a Grand Jury even taking up the case. You are emotionally connected because it actually happened to you. Again, I hate to hear that it actually happened to anyone, let alone a 6 or 7 year old, or 3 or 4 year old, or a 15 or 16 year old.

If he had gone to trial and been found innocent, would you feel the same way towards this young man?

l

The problem with this argument is he did not go to trial, but instead told the court he was guilty. We can pretend all day he’s maintained his innocence, but the only official statement he’s made in court is that he’s guilty of this crime.

 

[Ishmael]

Yes, in most cases, pleading out *is* an admission of guilt. There are a few specific circumstances where the defendant does not have to admit guilt, but in the vast majority of cases (including, as far as I know, this one), pleading out requires admitting guilt.

 

[bigiron.sixpack]

nvm

 

[bigiron.sixpack]

nvm

 

[Bcash2]

nm

 

[patdog]

So “pleading” out is an admission of guilt?

That's kind of the definition of a guilty plea. From a quick Google, it appears Oregon has a no contest plea, where you can accept the penalty without admitting guilt, but he plead guilty.

 

[MM4MSU]

I have studied this case extensively for awhile. I can't know 100% if he is guilty or not, but his side of story has not wavered one bit. Unless I missed it in some of the above comments, there are a couple of things I want to add from research I have done. (1) He was required to register as a sex offender during full stint of his probation, and (2) due to being a minor at time of alleged incident, once he completed probation his record would be expunged and he would no longer have to register as a sex offender. That has happened, but here is the problem. On his relocation to Oregon he failed to register as a sex offender as required and was later cited for that. That situation was somehow (possibly leaked to) picked up by Oregonian newspaper just a few weeks before his probation ended, so they broke the story. Legally, his record is clear now because he complied with terms, but problem is everyone found out about the issue when paper broke the story. Thus legally he is no longer considered a sex offender, but to much of the public he is and always will be. Very sad for all concerned.

Michael M
(MSU '73)

 

[johnson86-1]

That's kind of the definition of a guilty plea. From a quick Google, it appears Oregon has a no contest plea, where you can accept the penalty without admitting guilt, but he plead guilty.

Unless Oregon is different, you don't necessarily get the same plea deal for pleading no contest.

For the most part, pleading guilty is just an admission that pleading guilty is the best risk adjusted result for you, given your risk tolerance. I think that's pretty highly correlated with actual guilt, but it's not the same thing.

 

[L4Dawg]

The most likely thing is he DID do it. If so he messed up his own life. The one to feel sorry for is the poor kid he molested whose life is messed up through no fault of her own.