Verdicts in Whitmer kidnapping trial have been read

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

I am very disheartened by the outcome. Fox and especially Croft are very dangerous men who need to be locked up!

Not terribly surprising given the location of the trial (Kent County).

I hope the cases against Fox and Croft are re-tried.

Hard to get a neutral jury in Trump land. The case should have been held near Lansing.

[km1125]

I didn't follow this really closely, but I'd really like to know more of the details on the FBI agents or informants actions in this whole debacle. I know what we're told via the sensationalized media reports, but what actually was the truth?

Could/would the individuals actually pull off this plan without the help and guidance of those agents/informants, or were they just a bunch of hicks talking smack? Obviously the jury wasn't too convinced that they could have done it alone.

Forcing folks to plea to a crime under the threat of using the full weight and power (and virtually unlimited resources) of the Federal Government should be concerning to us all. Especially true when they allow someone to plea to a lesser crime, but use the threat of the maximum crime as a leverage, even knowing they could probably never actually get a conviction on that maximum crime.

[Matt]

I am very disheartened by the outcome. Fox and especially Croft are very dangerous men who need to be locked up!

Not terribly surprising given the location of the trial (Kent County).

I hope the cases against Fox and Croft are re-tried.

Hard to get a neutral jury in Trump land. The case should have been held near Lansing.

This is a hack response, or you just don't understand how the justice system works.

[FakeAndyStuart]

Watched a lot of Law and Order, it's always difficult to convict people of thinking about committing a crime without actually committing it.

This isn't a Philip K Dick story.

[Matt]

Seems like the FBI entrapment defense loomed large.

[Deleted User 15783]

I'm pretty much in agreement with what most on this thread are saying. From all I've read, I get the consensus that a bunch of guys with a belly full of beer were talking trash. No intent of actually doing anything.

Just like the little voice that goes off in your head when someone cuts you off. "I'd like to ram him into a telephone pole".
Let's hope you're not an Uber driver giving an FBI agent a ride.

[craig11152]

I can't say I followed the trial close enough to have an opinion on the verdict of acquittal.
I will say getting a 12-0 vote is pretty definitive.
I will also say in my opinion given an imperfect system letting a guilty man go free is the lesser evil to locking up an innocent man

[FakeAndyStuart]

I can't say I followed the trial close enough to have an opinion on the verdict of acquittal.
I will say getting a 12-0 vote is pretty definitive.
I will also say in my opinion given an imperfect system letting a guilty man go free is the lesser evil to locking up an innocent man

That opinion says you are against the death penalty.

[craig11152]

I can't say I followed the trial close enough to have an opinion on the verdict of acquittal.
I will say getting a 12-0 vote is pretty definitive.
I will also say in my opinion given an imperfect system letting a guilty man go free is the lesser evil to locking up an innocent man

That opinion says you are against the death penalty.

I am against the death penalty for that exact reason.
Why would you bother to bring that up?
Hoping for a "gotcha" moment?

[Matt]

I can't say I followed the trial close enough to have an opinion on the verdict of acquittal.
I will say getting a 12-0 vote is pretty definitive.
I will also say in my opinion given an imperfect system letting a guilty man go free is the lesser evil to locking up an innocent man

That opinion says you are against the death penalty.

I am against the death penalty for that exact reason.
Why would you bother to bring that up?
Hoping for a "gotcha" moment?

I think he has you pegged as a conservative. I'm fairly right leaning, and I'm also against the death penalty. This is true of several right-leaning posters. #gotchafail

[km1125]

I'm pretty much in agreement with what most on this thread are saying. From all I've read, I get the consensus that a bunch of guys with a belly full of beer were talking trash. No intent of actually doing anything.

Just like the little voice that goes off in your head when someone cuts you off. "I'd like to ram him into a telephone pole".
Let's hope you're not an Uber driver giving an FBI agent a ride.

Which is scary when the "thought police" get in power and start making laws or looking for convictions based just on what they believe you were thinking, rather than just someone's actual actions.

[MasterB]

I thought everyone would've been found guilty no way I could let anyone be found not guilty I wasn't following the trial all that much.

[FakeAndyStuart]

I can't say I followed the trial close enough to have an opinion on the verdict of acquittal.
I will say getting a 12-0 vote is pretty definitive.
I will also say in my opinion given an imperfect system letting a guilty man go free is the lesser evil to locking up an innocent man

That opinion says you are against the death penalty.

I am against the death penalty for that exact reason.
Why would you bother to bring that up?
Hoping for a "gotcha" moment?

Nope not at all, just showing that in this day and age of partisan rancor and rage, there are people like you who have consistent and reasonable opinions. I totally agree, the possibility of executing one innocent person is not worth it... I'm sure we don't agree on many other topics but at least there might be some starting ground for further discussions.

[Deleted User 15783]

I thought everyone would've been found guilty no way I could let anyone be found not guilty I wasn't following the trial all that much.

It seems since the first indictment, the defendants have been saying it was the informants that were doing cartwheels with a set of pom-poms encouraging the rest "Let's Do This".