> welcome to the second legal panel
discussion....thanks to mr. weisberg's
suggestions, we
have this lovely chat feature
to do everything
in real time.
> matt, are you there?
> anyway, for anyone who's out there, let's get
this humble
dialogue started....
<Trey> i'm ready to rock
> Great...thanks trey. Anyway, let's start with that
radio contest
where a contestant died.
> any thoughts on this contest?
<Trey> yeah - so the word is that the lady died
after drinking 2
gallons of water in the contest
to ... i think win
a Nintendo Wii?
<Trey> what's crazy is that, i think you go back
and listen to the
contest, the dj's at the station
were joking about
someone dying from it
> that's pretty remarkable...I hear that waivers
were signed off
on, which won't stop the fact
that the station
has a legal problem on its
hands.
<Trey> yeah and it should. radio stations have
been doing these
types of contests for years,
and people have
died (or been seriously
injured) in the
past
> from water intoxication?
<Trey> a famous one is the "Hands on a Hard
Body"
contest, held in texas...
> were criminal charges brought?
<Trey> well in this one, it wasn't water intox, but
the contest is
that people keep a hand on a
truck.. .whoever
goes the longest without
removing their
hand wins, and it lasts for days
<Trey> some dude went crazy after quitting and
shot himself
<Trey> that's a good question, i'm not sure about
criminal charges
> oh.....one of those....
> I guess some of those publicity stunts should
be reconsidered.
> Supposedly the DJ's were laughing about the
possibility of
someone dying.
<Trey> exactly. and at least now some of them
have been fired.
<Trey> but yeah, i don't see how a station can't
be held seriously
responsible when these
things have
happened in the past, and we
know that people
will commit insane acts to
win prizes
> they deserve it. you say 'can't be held
responsbile'?
<Trey> oh no - i meant, the station is definitely
responsible
> i think they should be 2 if they're the ones
reaping the gain
when these things go
well....Let's talk
about some of the violent
crimes of late.
<Trey> sure
> so we've a got young guy who tries to
decapitate his
sleeping father, a wife trying to
poison her
husband.....what's your take on
these crimes? Are
they completely disturbing
or what?
<Trey> yeah, the first one, with the samurai
sword, feels like
it's straight out of a horror flick
> almost decapitated him?
<Trey> yep. and over what dispute? a car or
something equally
trivial?
> amazing. And how about the wife who
poisoned her
husband for insurance.
<Trey> equally as sick, even if it's not as gruesome
> we've had the prototypical spouse murdering another
spouse many times
before.
> going back to the samurai murder, here are the
highlights from
the case: • Zachary Gibian
sentenced to 25
years for killing stepfather with
samurai sword
> apparently he didn't testify either.....what do you
think
about that choice?
> I stand corrected - he testified at trial, not at the
sentencing.....
<Trey> yeah, didn't he try to blame it on the mother?
> Anyway, the defense's theory was that the mother
was the killer and
that he was abused.
> that's right....
<Trey> i guess it's up to the defense to attempt to
substantiate the
abuse claim with some actual
evidence
> the problem was that he admitted to the crime early
on...if that
confession wasn't suppressed then he
had a real
problem.
> and if the evidence wasn't there to substantiate the
claim that the
mother did it.
> you're right about the defense.....
> do you think he should have gotten more time for this?
<Trey> i do, perhaps, although i'm not quite sure
why...
the fact that he
murdered him in his sleep, and in
such a heinous
fashion, makes me think he deserves
more
> i don't think the death penalty is an option in NY but
he
should be in life
without possibility of parole.
<Trey> yeah, the only thing i can think that might be
admissible is that
he was young... 16 i think? but i
don't think that
adds much leeway in my mind for his
punishment
<Trey> what about his buddy? didn't he try to help him
hide the sword or
somthing? what's the usual
punishment/route
for that guy?
> he was 20 when he was sentenced.
<Trey> gotcha
> co-conspiracy maybe
> where's weisberg?
> anyway, let's stop it there.....we will do this again
next
friday so please
spread the word and hopefully we
can Weisberg and
another panel attorney. Thanks
<Trey> sounds good, thanks
