Bergdahl faces charge rarely used in military

[*michaelsean*]

(11-06-2017, 03:22 PM)Dill Wrote: Two points on that:

1. Shepherd vs Maxwell in 1966, a murder conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court because of probing, unbalanced pre-trial publicity, including a judge grilling the accused on public TV without his lawyer.  Since then courts have recognized that media coverage may compromise the possibility of a fair trial. That is why trials are sometimes moved to different venues, or jurors brought in from "outside."

2. The case is much more serious when the head of the executive branch and commander in chief mouths off, as Trump has done again and again. Not only does that create pre-trial presumptions of guilt, but also the Commander in Chief is someone in a position to influence actual legal proceedings.  

All Trump has to do is shut up but he won't.  He has also now prejudiced the case against the Saipov for the 8 people killed in NYC. 

Trump's recent outbursts have something in common with the fact that he may have/did incriminate himself when he fired Comey and then told the press it was because he did not shut down the Russia investigation. He does not understand legal boundaries/responsibilities, especially as these pertain to the Chief Exec.  All the checks and balances and legal protections in our system--which distinguish our system from that of 3rd world dictatorships--just appear as senseless impediments to him, judging by his comments on it.  When you "know" who is guilty you punish them as harshly as the law will allow.

He plead guilty.  There is no question of fairness.    So why would his sentencing be mitigated by something Trump says?