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People v. Williams (Cal. Ct. App. - Jan. 22, 2008)

By Shaun Martin

This opinion is fairly short (seven double-spaced pages). And I've got a very brief -- and idiosyncratic, I admit -- question about it.

Does it speak ill of me -- and it may well -- that I really want to know how old the defendant is? I mean, if he's a 25- or 35-year old guy, this whole stuff seems so weird. In addition, obviously, to being a crime and worthy of punishment. And yet, if the defendant's 70 or something, the case takes on a whole new meaning.

My strong sense is that the former is true. But I really wanted to know. Not because it makes a difference in the law, or (perhaps) the result. But it does potentially give the thing a slightly different flavor.

So that thought popped into my head, so I thought I'd share it. Even if -- and, again, this is distinctly possible -- my emotional reaction to the underlying events should intellectually be the exactly the same regardless of whether the defendant was also elderly.

A weird tangent for the day.

Full post as published by California Appellate Report on January 23, 2008 (boomark / email).