Democracy Has Prevailed.

October 11, 2013

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due. Again.

Don't normally agree with the Trib's Eric Heyl, but he's 100%, absolutely, totally and without any sort of snarky bloggery sarcasm, completely correct with this column.

Here, I'll let Eric frame the argument:
There's due process, then there's overdue process.

Chuck McCullough's criminal case long ago turned into a protracted process whose resolution is ridiculously overdue.
And:
McCullough, 58, an Upper St. Clair attorney, is accused of bilking an elderly client, the late Shirley Jordan, out of more than $200,000. He was arrested in February 2009. That was 56 months ago.[Emphasis added.]
If I may point out something, if you google "Chuck McCullough arrested" you will get, on top of google's search list, this blog post - the date was February 9, 2009.

That was only 20 days after the President Obama's first inauguration.  Think of that for a second.  The Kenyan Socialist President's time in the White House exceeds McCullough's post-arrest-pre-trial time by a skosh under three weeks.  Think of all that's happened in that administration in those 56 weeks.
  • American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (February 17, 2009)
  • Cash for Clunkers (August 6, 2009)
  • The Nobel Peace Prize (October 9, 2009)
  • The Affordable Health Care Act (March 23, 2010)
  • Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act (December 22, 2010)
And so on.

What movies were were released after Chuck McCullough was arrested?
  • Avatar (Premiered December, 2009)
  • Both Star Trek films (April, 2009 and April, 2013)
So you remember seeing Avatar in the theatre?  However long ago you think that was, Chuck McCullough was arrested before that happened.

And so on.

Eric ends with:
If he hasn't succumbed to old age by the time the trial begins, McCullough might be sorely inconvenienced attempting to attend the proceedings. It wouldn't be the relatively quick commute from his home in Alpha Centauri that would prove irksome.
I'm glad Eric brought this up.  Did you know that Alpha Cenari is 4.37 light years away?  That's about 53 months.

So if they had sensitive enough equipment and if that sensitive enough equipment is pointed our way and if they could understand Pittsburghese, the residents on whatever planets that may be circling around Alpha Centauri are just hearing the news about Chuck McCullough's arrest.

Think about that.

1 comment:

EFC said...

Under Rule of Crim Procedure 600, a trial MUST commence within 365 days of the matter being bound over for court (i.e. the preliminary hearing), or the matter is dismissed. Extensions beyond that are at the defendant's request and with the defendant waiving Rule 600.
This is a long way of saying that the delay is McCullough/his counsel's own doing, so he can't much complain about it.