DA opts not to press charges on Cam and Hootie...

rgw

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The thing is that "smelled pot" is one of those things officers just can make up after the fact if their search produced marijuana and they were unsure on their legal footing on the search's pretense. If the supporting details around the stop and search are not iffy, you buy the officer's assertion and move on.

Once details of the stop starts showing signs of questionable judgement, the defense can start poking at the veracity of his statement. And he can only say he thought he smelled pot, never found evidence of "consumed" marijuana like paraphernalia or spent cigarette or cigarillo, and the amount was not enough to create a strong odor by itself. Why did he let the other two go when in a sedan any of the passengers could be the owner of the contraband?

Furthermore, how do you prove Jones or Robinson knowingly stole the weapon or purchased it knowing it was stolen? The weapon was reported missing in Baldwin County. I don't think either was there committing theft. The charge was not for registration of a weapon, but possession of a stolen firearm. If he didn't know it was stolen then that charge goes out the window. So you're left with a gram of pot to prosecute and it isn't worth the court's time considering they lawyer'd up.
 

Alasippi

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Ok, I know to some people pot and guns are darn near the devil, and I'm going to try to avoid being too non-sports with this but to address this we do that a little.

A: The amount of pot was something like half a gram. You know how small that amount is? The idea that a police officer could smell that from any distance away is laughable.That's the point, he couldn't actually smell it, he said it smelled it and that was pretense for a search. Does that excuse them having a plant? No, I suppose not, we made rules against owning plants, but am I really supposed to get worked up because they had a small amount of a plant? Not really...

B: Both guns were not "illegal" and from what I understand no laws were broken in acquiring either gun. Now I'm not entirely aware of all the rules in play here but it's certainly not illegal to own and transport a firearm. The only issue was one gun turned out to be stolen. Now, that gun was stolen from Baldwin County. Do you think Cam, who has no reason to ever be near there, actually went to Baldwin County and stole the gun? I don't, but he did purchase a stolen gun. He wasn't the one who stole it though and that's pertinent. I buy things from thrift stores sometimes, and how do I know who the original owner was? How do I know no one stole the stuff and dumped it there? How can I tell? I don't, but I bought and paid for it legally, if for any reason any second hand item I end up with turns out to be stolen it was through no faulty of my own.

Anyway, yes these guys broke rules and should be punished. However, to reiterate their only crime was that of possession. Of having something. Are we really going to condemn them on the basis not of harming anyone, not of participating in harming anyone, not of condoning someone, but for having stuff? C'mon...

They didn't break anyone's jaw in a bar, they didn't beat a helpless woman on the ground, they didn't knock out a female student at the university, they didn't rape a girl at the university, they didn't beat up their girlfriend, they didn't do any number of harmful acts other football players have done and basically gotten away with. It's sad if people can't draw the distinction between harming someone and not harming anyone, we get more worked up over stupid rules we make then actually doing things to other people. That's absurd.
In total agreement. BUT, the officer, in that specific instance, had two choices, at that particular moment.
One. Arrest Cam and Hootie and let the D.A. decide their fate.
OR..say.."OK kids, put the guns and pot up and drive home".
Seriously Krazy. Which should he have done?
I'm glad Cam and Hootie seem to be getting off without further incident. But the cop's not a criminal for arresting them.
sip
 

KrAzY3

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In total agreement. BUT, the officer, in that specific instance, had two choices, at that particular moment.
One. Arrest Cam and Hootie and let the D.A. decide their fate.
OR..say.."OK kids, put the guns and pot up and drive home".
Seriously Krazy. Which should he have done?
I'm glad Cam and Hootie seem to be getting off without further incident. But the cop's not a criminal for arresting them.
sip
I'm not really in disagreement with that. I posted earlier that I wasn't too worked up about the situation either way, given how it turned out. I don't quite like how it was done, in that two guys were let off, and it isn't entirely clear that the police did things by the book. Having said that, pot and a stolen gun, once you get there I'm not upset they arrested them. Not at all, I just want to be clear that to me this isn't about the success of the football team, it's more about how our laws can harm people who actually didn't harm anyone else. If Cam did what the piece of crap from Miss. State did to a woman laying helplessly on the ground, I'd want him off the team. I just think in this situation his crime was one that has been dealt with in an appropriate manner by not taking further actions.

I don't view this entirely through the prism of Alabama football though and I hope no one else involved did. You put the bad guys in jail, and you try to teach the decent guys so they can learn from their mistakes. Cam seems like a decent person, not a bad guy and nothing he did seemed to indicate he's a bad guy.
 

Alasippi

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I mean, I'd criticize you beyond the first paragraph, but there's so much wrong there, why bother? He didn't smell pot; that was his excuse. If pot was being smoked, he'd have found more than half a gram. Hootie's gun was not illegal, and having it in the open wasn't illegal. Cam's gun appears to have been purchased in a perfectly legal private sale, and he had no knowledge that at some unknown point in the past it was stolen.

I mean, I expect the Auburn and LSU fans to misstate the facts and appear utterly ignorant of reality when condemning our players, but I hate to see it from our own.
Look. You're missing my point completely.
I'm simply saying that the officer did what he's hired to do. It's not his decision as to whether a crime has actually been committed. It's his job, if he has a suspicion, to arrest the suspects and start the investigation process. That's all.
And point two. It really kinda ticks me off that Cam Robinson is practically the only kid being covered in the media. Why? Because he's an All-American left tackle at Alabama. Hootie, and the other two young men's lives are just as important as Cam Robinson's. I think you'd agree with me on that.
 

LA4Bama

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Look. You're missing my point completely.
I'm simply saying that the officer did what he's hired to do. It's not his decision as to whether a crime has actually been committed. It's his job, if he has a suspicion, to arrest the suspects and start the investigation process. That's all.
And point two. It really kinda ticks me off that Cam Robinson is practically the only kid being covered in the media. Why? Because he's an All-American left tackle at Alabama. Hootie, and the other two young men's lives are just as important as Cam Robinson's. I think you'd agree with me on that.
I appreciate your points, sip. Funny, that word "process." You'd think we'd appreciate that one.

I understand that in part Cam got more attention because he's a likely 1st round draft pick, but don't forget he was the one facing a possible felony. Hootie's gun was deemed legal.
 

B1GTide

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Look. You're missing my point completely.
I'm simply saying that the officer did what he's hired to do. It's not his decision as to whether a crime has actually been committed. It's his job, if he has a suspicion, to arrest the suspects and start the investigation process. That's all.
I suspect that you are very wrong here. I have no proof, but the DA didn't walk away from this to avoid ruining young lives. He walked away because he had no choice. There are several reasons that he might have had no choice, but all of the most obvious start and end with the behavior of the police officers at the scene.

And the media is focused on Cam because he is the only "celebrity" involved. Such is the life of a celebrity.
 

InsaneMustang

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Even if the police can say they "smell pot" as a frequent way of inspecting a vehicle, he found some. That to me is enough to say that they had it. The amount is irrelevant, the fact is, it was there.
 

The Ols

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Going back to your last few posts I have one thing to say..."Mooooo...."
Even if the police can say they "smell pot" as a frequent way of inspecting a vehicle, he found some. That to me is enough to say that they had it. The amount is irrelevant, the fact is, it was there.
 

rgw

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Without a felony weapons charge, it was not worth it to the state to prosecute a gram of marijuana against a lawyer'd up defense.
 

RTR91

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Look. You're missing my point completely.
I'm simply saying that the officer did what he's hired to do.
He did? Then why weren't the other two arrested?

It's not his decision as to whether a crime has actually been committed. It's his job, if he has a suspicion, to arrest the suspects and start the investigation process. That's all.
We can turn this discussion into NS real quick debating this.

And point two. It really kinda ticks me off that Cam Robinson is practically the only kid being covered in the media. Why? Because he's an All-American left tackle at Alabama. Hootie, and the other two young men's lives are just as important as Cam Robinson's. I think you'd agree with me on that.
That's part of being famous. Chris Carter put it best - "When you and your pals get kicked out of a club or some place for a fight, the headline doesn't have their names. It reads 'Chris Carter Kicked Out of _____ for Fight."
 

Tideflyer

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He did? Then why weren't the other two arrested?



We can turn this discussion into NS real quick debating this.



That's part of being famous. Chris Carter put it best - "When you and your pals get kicked out of a club or some place for a fight, the headline doesn't have their names. It reads 'Chris Carter Kicked Out of _____ for Fight."
With the current status (no charges, case essentially dead ) and unless something were to change, would that not be a bad idea? Just wondering.
 

CrimsonEyeshade

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There's another way of looking at this: The police officer is not hired to waste the DA's and court's time by making a questionable search and arrest for what amounts to a minor crime or no crime at all. That amount of marijuana is trifling. Most jurisdictions now just write a ticket for misdemeanor possession or give a warning. Guns are another matter, but a little research would have revealed that there is no apparent criminality here. The kids had clean records. The other two kids in the car are not charged and mysteriously left off the criminal report. Why?

What's being missed by most of the sportswriters is this: Every day, prosecutors throw out arrests by the droves. They don't have time, staff or interest in taking a case to court when it involves an insignificant matter and defendants with no criminal pasts. Throw in the potentially tainted search and this one had virtually no chance of seeing a courtroom from the start.

In that context, the police officers did not do their jobs. Their jobs involve more discretion.

Look. You're missing my point completely.
I'm simply saying that the officer did what he's hired to do. It's not his decision as to whether a crime has actually been committed. It's his job, if he has a suspicion, to arrest the suspects and start the investigation process. That's all.
And point two. It really kinda ticks me off that Cam Robinson is practically the only kid being covered in the media. Why? Because he's an All-American left tackle at Alabama. Hootie, and the other two young men's lives are just as important as Cam Robinson's. I think you'd agree with me on that.
 
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RTR91

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What's being missed by most of the sportswriters is this: Every day, prosecutors throw out arrests by the droves. They don't have time, staff or interest in taking a case to court when it involves an insignificant matter and defendants with no criminal pasts. Throw in the potentially tainted search and this one had virtually no chance of seeing a courtroom from the start.
Many I've heard or read are primarily upset with the DA's comment. They understand not wanting to ruin their lives. They just find Jones' air conditioner statement to be stupid, which it is.
 

Leeroy

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Too bad Nick Saban doesn't coach the internet. If he did, this would be over and done.
 

CrimsonEyeshade

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Many I've heard or read are primarily upset with the DA's comment. They understand not wanting to ruin their lives. They just find Jones' air conditioner statement to be stupid, which it is.
Maybe he didn't want to embarrass the police department by calling out a questionable search and arrest. Instead he embarrassed himself.

To the bigger point ... I've read bunches of writers decrying special treatment for athletes. Maybe there was some of that. But DAs jettison dozens of arrests every week that have nothing to do with sports stars.
 
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RTR91

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Maybe he didn't want to embarrass the police department by calling out a questionable search and arrest. Instead he embarrassed himself.

To the bigger point ... I've read bunches of writers decrying special treatment for athletes. Maybe there was some of that. But DAs jettison dozens of arrests every week that have nothing to do with sports stars.
I agree he probably was trying to avoid embarrassing the MPD, but there was a better way of saying what he did. He could have simply said "We didn't have enough evidence once we investigated the guns, and I'm not prosecuting these young men over such a small amount of pot."
 

CrimsonPaul

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Even if the police can say they "smell pot" as a frequent way of inspecting a vehicle, he found some. That to me is enough to say that they had it. The amount is irrelevant, the fact is, it was there.
It was a rental car. Do you really think it was spotlessly cleaned? A good lawyer would laugh over that.
 

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