Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Man in teen sex case should go free, judge rules
At 17, he was sentenced to 10 years even though sex was consensual

ATLANTA - A Georgia judge ordered the release Monday of a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, a sentence that had been widely criticized as grossly disproportionate to the crime.

Several influential people, including former President Jimmy Carter, publicly supported Genarlow Wilson?s appeals, and state lawmakers voted to close the loophole that led to his 10-year term.

Monday?s ruling doesn?t ensure Wilson?s freedom, though.

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said Monday afternoon that he had filed notice of appeal, arguing that Georgia law does not give a judge authority to reduce or modify the sentence imposed by the trial court. He said he would seek an expedited ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court.

Wilson defense lawyer B.J. Bernstein said she believes Baker is just trying to stop Wilson?s immediate release.

?It is extremely, extremely disturbing that the attorney general would take this action now,? she said. ?In essence, the attorney general is saying, ?Keep Genarlow Wilson in prison for 10 years and keep him on the sex offender registry.??

The judge?s ruling Monday threw out Wilson?s 10-year sentence and amended it to misdemeanor aggravated child molestation with a 12-month term, plus credit for time served, and he would not be required to register as a sex offender.

?The fact that Genarlow Wilson has spent two years in prison for what is now classified as a misdemeanor, and without assistance from this Court, will spend eight more years in prison, is a grave miscarriage of justice,? wrote Judge Thomas H. Wilson, no relation to Genarlow Wilson.

?If this court or any court cannot recognize the injustice of what has occurred here, then our court system has lost sight of the goal our judicial system has always strived to accomplish ... justice being served in a fair and equal manner,? the judge wrote.

Bernstein said she plans to look into filing a bond to have Wilson, now 21, release while the appeal is pending.

When the judge?s order arrived Monday morning, Wilson?s lawyers had applauded and hugged his mother, Juannessa Bennett, who wiped away tears.

?I just feel like a miracle happened,? Bennett said.

A jury had found Wilson, an honor student, guilty in 2005 of aggravated child molestation for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl during a 2003 New Year?s Eve party involving alcohol and marijuana. Although the sex act was consensual, it was illegal under Georgia law.

Wilson was also charged with rape for being one of several male partygoers at the Douglas County hotel to have sex with a 17-year-old girl, but was acquitted. The party was captured on a videotape that was played for the jury.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19171577/

And a related story that fills in some of the details:
*****************************************************************88

Not fair: Ten years for consensual oral sex
Prosecutors are obligated to protect defendants from unfair sentences

Ten years in prison for receiving oral sex. That is Genarlow Wilson?s sentence.

When he was 17 years old and a high school senior, he received consensual oral sex from a 15-year-old, 10th-grade girl.

Everyone agreed, including the prosecutor and the girl herself, that she initiated the act.

It was all captured on video ? the evidence used to convict him at trial. On the tape, police saw a 15-year-old perform oral sex on one partygoer, and after finishing with him, she turned and did the same to Wilson. Under Georgia law at the time, this was considered aggravated child molestation, a felony for teens less than three years apart to have oral sex. It carried with it a 10-year sentence, even though it was only a misdemeanor for those same teens to have sexual intercourse.   

The D.A. offered Wilson ? a football standout who was being recruited by some of nation?s top colleges, including Columbia and Brown ? a plea deal: five years in prison and register as a sex offender. He turned it down.

The other students at the party took that deal and some of them are out of prison by now. Because Wilson thought he would be acquitted and did not want to be branded a child molester, he went to trial. The prosecutor blames Wilson for his sentence because none of the other defendants insisted on a trial; all the others ?took their medicine.? 

When I first heard about the case, I wasn?t too concerned. Wilson knew the risks, rolled the dice by going to trial and lost. But the more I think about his case and the more I read about his case, the more I think prosecutors have a duty to make sure they don?t take cases to trial that they can win, when the punishment doesn?t fit the crime. Prosecutors have discretion, and they have to use it fairly and wisely.  So why do I write about this case now, two years into his sentence?  For two reasons:  for one, the Duke case has heightened my awareness that there can be injustice in the system, and as a prosecutor, I have an equal obligation to seek convictions as I do to make sure the convictions are fair and just and not wrongful.   I must speak out against injustice in the same way I speak out against crime and in favor of law enforcement.  The second reason I write about this now is because the Georgia legislature may be very close to righting this wrong with new legislation.  To the extent they are, I applaud their efforts.  To the extent they are not, I encourage their efforts.

After Wilson?s conviction and sentence, the legislature changed the statute realizing it was unfair. It now makes consensual oral sex between teens a misdemeanor. Too little, too late for Wilson, as the law does not apply retroactively. The legislature could change the law again, and there is presently a bipartisan bill that has been introduced to do just that.

Wilson?s attorney, B.J. Bernstein, a former prosecutor herself, is anxiously working with legislators to change the law to apply to Wilson.

The only other hope for Wilson, now 20, is for the prosecutor to set aside the sentence, and while the prosecutor didn?t return my phone calls, he told  ESPN , that ?legally, it?s still possible for us to set aside his sentence and give him a new sentence to a lesser charge. But it?s up to us. He has no control over it.? The reason they haven?t, according to ESPN, is they believe Wilson is guilty under the law and there is no room for mercy. 

Is the prosecutor punishing Wilson for exercising his right to a trial?

He says he offered Wilson the same five-year plea deal after the jury convicted him but before he was sentenced and Wilson again turned it down. Wilson says he turned it down because the jury acquitted him of the rape charge and only convicted him of the aggravated child molestation. Why take the same five-year deal after being acquitted of rape?   

I spoke with Wilson?s attorney, who?s working around the clock for free to right an injustice.   She is frustrated because no one believes Wilson should be in prison for 10 years ? not the prosecutors, Supreme Court, legislature, 15-year-old schoolmate, jury forewoman, or even the prison officials ? but no one has done anything to get him out. 

Her hope now lies with Senate Bill 37, which has been introduced and referred to the Judiciary Committee. Bernstein wants to see Wilson get out of jail soon, without the sex offender label, and go to college.

My hope is that the law applies to Wilson in the same way it applies to other consenting teens. If the legislature changed the law to spare other teens a harsh injustice, it should apply retroactively to Wilson.

God Damn if getting Blowjobs are illegal I'd be on Death Row for Sure...... Holy Shit! :hihi: :hihi:

 :o


(filler :))

Geez, this really blows!  Sucks to be that dude, especially.  The justice system swallows another load of hypocrisy!  But seriously though, it's funny that these same Bible belt freaks who made this law were probably getting their pee pees fondled by their underage pages while they wrote it up.

So he gets a blowjob and is sent to p rison where he will now be forced to GIVE blowjobs.

Wow the irony! :hihi:

10 years is a little harsh isn't it ?  :-\

If I went to prison on a blowjob charge there's no way I'd hire an attorney named B.J. Bernstein.

One day is too harsh.

What pisses me off is the over zealous Attorney General wants to keep this guy in jail.

The laws original purpose was as an instrument to incarcerate gay people . Your right , the hypocricy is so thick it smothers you .

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how much he'd get if he's beaten her up or raped her?

I think Rape u get anywhere from 5 to 10 years.

Truly ridiculous law and sentence.


And Paris Hilton was bitchin sayin hers was unfair. :hihi:

I remember this story from a few months back.  Totally fucked up his football career.

Fucked up his LIFE.

Blowjobs legal!?!?

That sucks!

B.J.?  ;D

25 already made the joke, Bob.

If you never bothered to read the thread, my advice is to do the exact opposite in the future. If however you did read the thread and 25 was too subtle for you, my advice is suicide.

Way to leap into the 70's,  Georgia

If you're at a sex party full of junior highschool kids I'm not sure your life is heading in entirely the right direction to begin with. But that's just one man's opinion.

The kid was 17 and the girl was 15. Not much of an age difference if you ask me. I guess that is worth letting him rot in a jail cell for a decade, and then tag him as a child molester for the remainder of his life, huh? Give me a break.

I wasn't talking about the crime he committed nor the sentence he received but the situation he put himself in. But I congratulate you on reaching those distant tangental conclusions all the same, you ought to try out for the olympic long-jump team.

I was, and that is what you responded to.

Come on.  Being a male teenager and wanting sexual contact is not indicative of not "heading in entirely the right direction". 

I suppose it depends on the type of sexual contact in question. I'm not sure I'd stick around long after the "party" degenerates into a grade-school gangbang. I may be in the minority on this one (as I said before) but I'd personally be turned off if I wandered into a room and found 15-year-old kids slurping multiple schlongs for beer access, even if I was 17. But that's just my take. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.