GUILTY GA - Lauren Giddings, 27, Macon, 26 June 2011 # 6

[Knox]

I'm inclined somewhat to agree with your post. I take exception, however, with the quoted lines from the news article. Beside the fact that the first statement ends in a preposition (a personal peeve, especially in a published work), it is misleading. Mrs. McD does not admit her son purchased the saw on which LG's DNA was found.

Read more: http://www.macon.com/2011/08/06/1656682/accused-murderes-mom-says-her.html#ixzz1UHERRVeJ

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Per Mrs. McD, her son purchased the hacksaw that went with the packaging found in his apartment. It has not been established if the saw he bought after the storm is the one apparently used in the crime.

As for the second line in the article, it's also poorly written and misleading. The sentence infers McD told his mother that the MM took the saw from the garbage. Yet, later in the article, we learn Mrs. McD merely speculated about the MM taking the saw from the trash.

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There's a difference between "could have" and "must have". Those subtle differences will be overlooked by the general reading public, twelve of whom will be jurors if the case goes to trial. Additionally, this is not a direct quote, so we can't be certain what Mrs. McD actually said. Mrs. McD is doing her son no favors by talking, but rather is serving to impede justice. As long as she continues to speak, her words will be twisted by reporters, and the waters further muddied.

I was thinking of this earlier when reading that story. IIRC this was a telephone interview? Does the reporter record the conversation or just take notes as they are speaking? GM does seem to ramble a bit and wondered about the accuracy of re-quoting her words.

 

[Pig]

Yes, the standards are very different, but I think what I understand the original question to have been, was:

If, MM were to file and win a civil defamation suit, couldn't the evidence of that finding/ruling be presented to a jury in the criminal case if and when SM's defense were to point in the direction of MM as the actual perp.

I could be wrong, but thats what I understood the question to be.

And as someone else posted upthread, I too believe the civil case would be postponed until AFTER the criminal case had been tried... or at least the defense would make every effort to have that case put off! JMO

My answer is probably not. Because the standard is LOWER in the civil case, it would be unfair to use a civil determination of liability against a criminal defendant in a subsequent criminal case. The same evidence used in the civil case, of course, could be used in the later criminal one.

The civil case would likely be postponed until after the criminal case. You are correct. So really this is a moot point.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

Beside the fact that the first statement ends in a preposition (a personal peeve, especially in a published work) ...

As I was growing up, anytime my sisters or I would ask "where is <something> at?",
my mom would always reply "Behind the at." :doh:
Used to drive us crazy

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

I've not seen this mentioned yet, but I'm sure everyone is familiar with those rolling trash cans
and have seen the sanitation workers hook them at the back of the truck and flip them over to dump the contents.
I have to wonder what made SM think that they would not have noticed the torso at that time.
It's always stated that it was "wrapped in plastic".
I've never seen it stated it was "bagged"... and if it were, a smell probably would not
have been detected so soon after it was transferred from the fridge (as we currently understand it to have happened).
Just seems a careless way for him to dispose of this.
I still wonder if we're going to discover he was holding this for other reasons...

 

[bessie]

I was thinking of this earlier when reading that story. IIRC this was a telephone interview? Does the reporter record the conversation or just take notes as they are speaking? GM does seem to ramble a bit and wondered about the accuracy of re-quoting her words.

I can't answer for this interview, but in general, telephone interviews are recorded.

 

[~SuperSleuth~]

http://www.newscentralga.com/news/l...tigation-Maintenance-Man-Story-126859243.html

When asked about Glenda McDaniel's accusations against Dorer, Gaudet said, "We don't follow up on accusations, we follow up on leads, tips, and evidence."

NewsCentral has tried to contact Mrs. McDaniel and she has declined to speak to NewsCentral and hung up the phone.

 

[CocoChanel]

Hey, Knox, do you think that little smile and look toward Winters was a joke passing between them? "'What role did the media have in this case?' Well, it gave us an 11+ minute interview with the perp!" And that video just keeps on giving.

oh yeah!!! Love this comment WhoaJo!!! True that!!!

 

[currcat]

I've not seen this mentioned yet, but I'm sure everyone is familiar with those rolling trash cans
and have seen the sanitation workers hook them at the back of the truck and flip them over to dump the contents.
I have to wonder what made SM think that they would not have noticed the torso at that time.
It's always stated that it was "wrapped in plastic".
I've never seen it stated it was "bagged"... and if it were, a smell probably would not
have been detected so soon after it was transferred from the fridge (as we currently understand it to have happened).
Just seems a careless way for him to dispose of this.
I still wonder if we're going to discover he was holding this for other reasons...

Not 100% sure about the GA Ave. service are, but most of the garbage trucks running in the Middle GA area have a hook arm that comes out and picks the can up, raises it to dump into the truck, and then sets it back down. To my knowledge, garbage workers are not actually handling the cans anymore.

 

[ThinMan]

I am willing to guess, that the vacated apartment, the fridge was removed from, was............the MM's apartment! (just a guess)

Not a bad guess, but not a correct one. The apartment below LG's was not the address of the man identified as the MM (who did not live in #s 1-4).

 

[ThinMan]

http://www.newscentralga.com/news/l...tigation-Maintenance-Man-Story-126859243.html

"NewsCentral has tried to contact Mrs. McDaniel and she has declined to speak to NewsCentral and hung up the phone."

One time too few. Can you imagine the hounding that poor family is enduring?

 

[Lawette32]

"NewsCentral has tried to contact Mrs. McDaniel and she has declined to speak to NewsCentral and hung up the phone."

One time too few. Can you imagine the hounding that poor family is enduring?

l'm really having trouble conjuring up as much sympathy for her at this point. She pointed the finger at someone else's child and is trying to get the media to jump on board that he is the "true" murderer.

I get that this must be a horrible nightmare for GM, but dragging others down with her won't fix the hurt.

 

[ThinMan]

Not intent, just negligence on the speaker's part. Here are the elements (you can see them on http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/georgia-defamation-law):

1. a false statement about the plaintiff;
2. communication of the statement to a third party in the absence of a special privilege to do so;
3. fault of the defendant amounting at least to negligence; and
4. harm to the plaintiff, unless the statement amounts to per se defamation. See Smith v. Stewart, 660 S.E.2d 822, 828 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008).

Well, this certainly would fall under Defamation Per Se, seeing as she's accused him of murder.

Thanks for the legal lessons, but would it not be foolish of MM to sue either SMD or his mom for defamation?

If the point of the suggested suit is to establish his innocence, nothing speaks as loudly as his walking into and out of the police station on Friday while SMD remains charged with the homicide. IF SMD is convicted or pleads guilty, then MM's innocence is even more clear.

If the point of the suggested suit is to recover big $$$ for the damage to MM's reputation, where would the $$$ come from? SMD will most likely not be in a position to pay off any debts anytime soon (except the one he probably owes to society). Mrs. McD (she's the one, after all, who made the accusation) doesn't impress me as having the ability to pay a judgment of any amount worth the time and money of suing.

If the point of the suggested suit is to repair his reputation and make people think well of him (again), then I don't know that suing the distraught, beseiged and beleaguered mother of an accused killer is the way to go about it. MM would be well advised to stick to his own life and let this media-circus pass him by as quickly as it will.

 

[McMunn]

Not 100% sure about the GA Ave. service are, but most of the garbage trucks running in the Middle GA area have a hook arm that comes out and picks the can up, raises it to dump into the truck, and then sets it back down. To my knowledge, garbage workers are not actually handling the cans anymore.

I know for a fact that they physically handle the garbage cans at Barrister's Hall Apartments (well, at least on the day that I drove by, about 3 weeks ago). It was a regular garbage truck, and I saw two people lifting the dumpsters into the back of the truck. It might be a private garbage company?

 

[Givsmetheshivers]

Even if the purchase of the saw happened in April and not recently, most stores that are chain stores could pull the itemized receipts. I know for work that I've had heat destroy the original receipt and had to go to the manager and have them pull the receipt. It might take a day or two for them to do it, but they can.

Also, I swear the first article I read about Lauren was very dramatic and started out with something about a sign reading that you were on camera past a certain point in the Barristers Apartments complex. Am I making that up, or have that mixed up because I can't find it anywhere.

 

[ThinMan]

l'm really having trouble conjuring up as much sympathy for her at this point. She pointed the finger at someone else's child and is trying to get the media to jump on board that he is the "true" murderer.

I get that this must be a horrible nightmare for GM, but dragging others down with her won't fix the hurt.

I agree that Mrs. McD hasn't been acting at her best. But I think LG's sister and mother have set the proper tone for all of us when they said "We pray for the McDaniel family."

I'm assuming here that Mrs. McD is repeating things Stephen told her. While it's certainly bad form to do so, and bad for SMD's defense to do so, and does injury to others, surely it's human nature for Mrs. McD to try to get people to understand that her precious child couldn't have done those terrible things. Wouldn't you want your own mother to disbelieve that you could have done some of the (probably minor) bad things you've done?

I wish the media would leave Mrs. McD alone. She doesn't know anything about what happened and isn't able to see what has been revealed in pretty clear fashion to the rest of us.

 

[McMunn]

Also, I swear the first article I read about Lauren was very dramatic and started out with something about a sign reading that you were on camera past a certain point in the Barristers Apartments complex. Am I making that up, or have that mixed up because I can't find it anywhere.

It might be because of the way that the AT&T cameras are facing the apartments.

 

[bessie]

http://www.macon.com/2011/08/06/1656586/mcdaniels-mother-offers-explanation.html#ixzz1UDdtodKb
She said her son collected the knives and swords “because he’s into knights and King Arthur ... and he also likes samurai movies.”
Other items taken by police included his video games, video game system and his computer, Glenda McDaniel said.

Those members looking into the gaming issue in this case might find this info helpful.

I've been sniffing around the medieval angle, if you will, since we learned of the chain mail back in thread one. I know that Mercer offers courses on medieval history and lit. In fact, I believe the faculty boasts one or two medieval literature scholars. I'm curious if McD enrolled in any of those classes. Regardless, I think we know enough about McD to surmise he holds reactionary views about femininity. Lauren was the antithesis of the medieval feminine ideal. She was beautiful, but also intelligent, independent, athletic and strong. Now his mom tells us "he's into" King Arthur, which fits in with what I suspected. Was LG his Guinevere? A traitorous woman who deserved to be punished for her misdeeds? I think that might have played into his motive. Thoughts?

 

[currcat]

looks like Judge Jeaneane will have a segment on this case tonight - on Fox News

 

[ThinMan]

I've been sniffing around the medieval angle, if you will, since we learned of the chain mail back in thread one. I know that Mercer offers courses on medieval history and lit. In fact, I believe the faculty boasts one or two medieval literature scholars. I'm curious if McD enrolled in any of those classes. Regardless, I think we know enough about McD to surmise he holds reactionary views about femininity. Lauren was the antithesis of the medieval feminine ideal. She was beautiful, but also intelligent, independent, athletic and strong. Now his mom tells us "he's into" King Arthur, which fits in with what I suspected. Was LG his Guinevere? A traitorous woman who deserved to be punished for her misdeeds? I think that might have played into his motive. Thoughts?

An interesting idea, Bessie. I don't know much about gamers, but in this case it looks like the barrier between SMD's fantasy world and reality shattered (please pardon the ignorant arm-chair psychology, PsychoMom).

In SMD's reality of law school, wouldn't there be many, many intelligent, independent, athletic, strong women in his class? Most law schools these days are 50% women and most of them are not shrinking violets or helpless damsels in distress.

How about it, Lawette32 (or other current women Mercer law students or graduates)? Was LG the most intelligent, independent, athletic, strong woman in her class? Or was she one among many?

What I'm getting at is testing Bessie's theory -- is it plausible that LG was picked for death because she caused too much tension with SMD's romantic ideals of women? Or, is it more likely that she was just the convenient (girl next door) victim in SMD's "perfect crime"?

 

[tomkat]

I know for a fact that they physically handle the garbage cans at Barrister's Hall Apartments (well, at least on the day that I drove by, about 3 weeks ago). It was a regular garbage truck, and I saw two people lifting the dumpsters into the back of the truck. It might be a private garbage company?

Yes, in some cities, the sanitation workers still ride on back of the dump truck and jump off and physically pick of the cans and empty into truck

I was at BH around that time frame, give or take, and saw the same