FL - Somer Thompson, 7, Orange Park, 19 Oct 2009 #39

[Dee10]

Adding to Kimberly's list; obstruction of justice, perjury,..."aiding & abetting?" Not sure how many Mom's would be charged, but somehow I think THIS one would be charged if proven otherwise & would be firmly told just that; just a hunch lol. Bottom line, somehow I don't think that would detour her for some reason MOO. :snooty:

 

[Dee10]

If CCSO did not have proof that he was in Orange Park ... were they premature in naming him a person of interest?

What a great, thought provoking question!

I have a question; I am not familiar with any cases that I can think of (but I am sure there are cases), where LE rules the POI out. Would/does LE come out to the press and state otherwise if they change their mind? I would appreciate any input, TIA.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

What a great, thought provoking question!

I have a question; I am not familiar with any cases that I can think of (but I am sure there are cases), where LE rules the POI out. Would/does LE come out to the press and state otherwise if they change their mind? I would appreciate any input, TIA.

:waitasec: You know, I have no idea. Seems they would, but IDK.
I would think they would "clear" him if he wasn't a POI or suspect, but I don't know for sure.

O/T: BTW - I LOVE LOVE LOVE your siggy. RC cracks me up sometimes. :loser:

 

[Noway]

FWIW, at the end of the drive into those apartments is a dumpster. Not far from JH Gano house.

Map from BreatheLife21

snipped from map (red marker near green is JH house; thumbtack is dumpster)

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Noway, you are great. I blew that map up as far as it would go the other day trying to see a dumpster at those apartments and couldn't.

I figured there had to be one.

You go girl.

 

[hoppyfrog]

I don't know why it seems some think a lot of us want JH to fry no matter if he killed Somer or not????

Because of the child charges.

 

[Noway]

I think in a case like this where everything is front page news they would. But I don't think it's always the case.

Interesting article on naming someone POI
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4042

 

[Noway]

Noway, you are great. I blew that map up as far as it would go the other day trying to see a dumpster at those apartments and couldn't.

I figured there had to be one.

You go girl.

The map is not mine ... I just have a link to it and because when I posted the link you still had to scroll ... I added the jpg of the area.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Because of the child charges.

I totally agree. I think he should fry becuase of the child charges alone.

But, I want to make sure LE gets the right perp for Somer.
I think they did. We'll have to wait and see I guess.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Yeah, but your eyes saw a dumpster. Mine couldn't find it. lol

You still rock IMO.

 

[spamelope]

FWIW, at the end of the drive into those apartments is a dumpster. Not far from JH Gano house.

Map from BreatheLife21

snipped from map (red marker near green is JH house; thumbtack is dumpster)

Wow, that's just feet away from RB's old apt. I think I see Dumpsters there, too.

 

[Dee10]

I think in a case like this where everything is front page news they would. But I don't think it's always the case.

Interesting article on naming someone POI
http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4042

They are all front page news to begin with & that is kind of my point. I remember looking at old unsolved Florida missing children cases in the past after AMW in relation to a possible serial killer rearing his head or whatever the term they used & IIRC there was a POI in one or two of them as well as other old cases in other states. Just I don't know the protocol, if there is any IF they determine a POI is no long valid? After a story fades, I guess...it doesn't matter to the press; as maybe it wouldn't be newsworthy perhaps??? Just my...wondering lol.

 

[Noway]

Sadly Dee, not all missing child cases are front page news -- ever.

But of those that are, in which a POI were named -- and subsequently cleared -- I think they deserve to have that done publicly -- but I don't think it necessarily happens.

 

[Noway]

Although, in being honest with myself ... if JH is guilty of the child charges ... but innocent of killing Somer ... I don't care that he gets the public apology. That's wrong, but that's me.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I agree. If he's found guilty on child and is found innocent in Somer's murder I don't care if he gets another breath, but thats me.

I hate to be that way, but this carp has got to stop.

 

[Dee10]

Although, in being honest with myself ... if JH is guilty of the child charges ... but innocent of killing Somer ... I don't care that he gets the public apology. That's wrong, but that's me.

Oh... I TIA, but the public needs to know if there is still a child murder out there, IF there is a change in status. Hopefully, the press will keep on this, even if it turns into a cold case. I pray it doesn't of course!

 

[Dee10]

Angeleena had two really interesting posts at the end of the last thread; maybe somebody that knows how could bring these over?

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Bumping for Somer. Rest in Peace Baby.

 

[Noway]

Angeleena had two really interesting posts at the end of the last thread; maybe somebody that knows how could bring these over?

All Angleena Posts (in case these are not what you are referring to).

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4909859&postcount=1120"]Link to this post by Angleena[/ame]


Even though it's obvious he is guilty of the molestation, possession and production of child charges, it's good legal sense to plead not guilty (no matter how much we don't like it).

Here is a snippet (source: http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/03/ja...-not-guil.html:

"Charging in the most prudent way, and using all laws that have been violated in our opinion and charging it accordingly. So, it's the same incident, just charged a little bit more thoroughly," says Chief Assistant State Attorney Dan McCarthy.

McCarthy says the victim is a female relative of Harrell's and younger than seven years old.
=======

A good defense attorney will argue that he is not guilty on 2 counts of child molestation, since it was all the same incident and that would make him guilty on only one count. Same with the production, while there are several images, the whole even of producing them was one single incident and the attorney will argue that he is only guilty on one count of production. However, the possession charges are a bit different and hard to argue, each image he holds is one count against him. So that is part of the reason he has plead not guilty. The other part of the reason is that it opens up the door for plea bargaining, where he might agree to plead guilty for one count of production, one count of molestation and maybe 1/2 the counts of possession. I believe prosecution would agree to reduce it to one count of production and one count of molestation, but I doubt they would reduce the possession charges.

------------------

As far as charging him in Somer's case, it is best to wait as long as it takes if they do not have solid concrete evidence. As long as he has not been found guilty in the child , production and molestation charges, prosecution cannot use any of that evidence in a murder trial showing that he has a history of child molestation. If they wait until they have a conviction in the child molestation charges, they can use that evidence to show a jury that he has a history of such conduct and is a convicted felon because of his past conduct. If he is convicted on the current charges, being able to use that conviction charge as character evidence in a murder trial is absolutely priceless. It would be so much easier to convince a jury with only circumstantial evidence if you can show a pattern of sexually abusing children. Remember, a murder charge holds the death penalty in Florida, so anything they can use to drive their case home to a jury is well worth the wait. Like they said, JH isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Put yourself on a jury in Somer's murder trial. Would it be easier for you to convict someone with a prior felony and history of child molestation or someone that has never been convicted of it before? Remember, as long as he has not been found guilty by a jury of his peers, the current charges against him cannot be used in a murder trial - so with an untainted jury, they would have absolutely no knowledge of the current charges he is facing unless he has actually been convicted and the prosecution is then allowed to bring it to the jury's attention.


[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4909983&postcount=1121"]Link to this post by Angleena[/ame]

It is for pre-trial motions.

Pre-trial motions may include (and these are just examples of what these motions usually are):

Motion to suppress evidence (used when evidence was obtained illegally, such as an illegal search and seizure)

Motion to gain supplemental evidence through discovery - Usually a set of interrogatories (questions) sent to witnesses for both defense and prosecution. So they might send interrogatories to those who turned over the computer to LE. This gives them a good idea of what witnesses might testify to.

If there is any blood, urine or DNA samples, they may ask for those samples to be divided so they can be sent in for an independent study (evaluated by someone other than those in LE).

Motions to strike prior records. This is something you would see done if he was charged with Somer's murder now, the attorney would make a motion to strike these pending charges from the record because there is no conviction. The judge would absolutely grant that motion too (that's why it's best to wait for a conviction).

Motions to suppress statements made by the defendant- mainly statements they have made during interviews with LE. If JH is charged in Somer's murder, we will probably see a lot of this, motions to suppress anything he may have said at this time about Somer's case because he has not been read his Miranda rights in Somer's case.

Motions to gain access to the arresting officer's personal file. Yep, the arresting officer is subject to review by the prosecution. It gives them leverage to challenge the arresting officers opinions and conclusions.

A motion alleging a defect in the indictment or information - We might see this motion. It's my understanding that this latest set of charges came from images found on a flash drive that JH had on him at the time he was arrested. It could be argued that since that item was confiscated in Mississippi, Mississippi has jurisdiction over that matter and not Florida. There is a very fine line here considering he was being held for Florida and the drive was taken from him as a possession on his person and may not have been subject to search in Mississippi.

 

[angelswatchoverthem]

Do you think that would be all they had if they charge him and it goes to trial?

Corey's statement did give a hint that they think they have him.

I'm pretty sure there is evidence. But, we don't know about it yet. It will all come out if and when he is charged.

I think for Corey to come out and make such a statement, the way i see it, she did mention 'those that grieved for Somer can be at ease now', more or less is what she said. From this i see she specifically mentioned in relation to "Somer", this would imply they got who did this to her. Otherwise she should of stated it differently, in regard to the fact they have one more S.O off the street, something like that. Maybe she should of elaborated more on her statement, so people would be clearer about what she said! Maybe someone could get her to elaborate on it??? The fact that they were looking at R.S.O's initially, to me that is very telling also! This indicates that Somer was most likely molested! I feel if it had of been an outright murder, then why would they only think S.O's? If it was just the fact she was murdered, then there could have been other reasons for that, that to me only seems logical. All IMO.
If J.H. is not the perp. then i think there is the fact he will do time for the other initial charges on him currently, but i also don't believe he will necessarily get a life sentence for this. If he had of raped a child then it might be a different story.
Then again how many fathers rape their own children and they never get found out! What J.H. has on him now, is disgusting enough, but i won't tell you here what i would like to do to a parent who repeatedly rapes their own child, that is beyond disgusting!