The guy having had no criminal record is immaterial to his conviction.
His case was not overturned, the governor did not pardon him.
He remains guilty of his crime, his sentenced was commuted.
Therefore, he is just another ex-con angry at the system that found him guilty and punished him.
So who does he blame?
Not himself, obviously.
But was he guilty of a crime? Yes, the governor did not dispute that.
So he was a criminal, who got caught and punished, and that is a criminal record that he now has, and will continue to have until there is some cause to expunge his record.
Lots of people who think laws are wrong, when they get busted for their violation, go all "Libertarian" on the process, they get bent out of shape.
Did this guy try to cop to a lessor plea? Did this guy appear belligerent at the trial? Did the lawyer try to argue against the law, rather than the guy being
not guilty of breaking the law?
Remember, he was found guilty by a jury of his peers.
Without all the facts of the case, all that can be gleaned is that he was found guilty of a crime, sentenced by a judge to 7 years, and then the sentence was commuted to time served.
His having no criminal record is not material to the issues at hand, which makes the article such a joke...as the writer of the article is biased towards making people feel sympathetic to this guy.
Look, let me ask a serious question.
If this guys name had been Allah Akbar and he was dressed in full on Muslim garb when this all went down, he had the same story, same family situation, same cops, etc. do you think on principle that there would by sympathy for his situation?
Unlikely, though the ACLU might have gotten involved, which they might have done in the beginning if his civil liberties were actually violated.
Nope, the guy is an ex convict with a commuted sentence, now on a mission...but the article was a joke, as it was including facts that were not pertinent to the crime at hand.
Quote from Tsing Tao:
dude, what are you talking about? the guy HAD NO CRIMINAL RECORD PRIOR TO THIS. what part of that dont you get?