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Posts Made By: James Brown

April 5, 2023 10:12 PM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by James Lacey


I seriously doubt the statement of facts is their entire case.
Hi James:

No, of course not, but the indictment and arraignment must give the defendant fair notice of what the charges he faces are based upon.  No doubt Bragg has all of the check stubs and so on where Trump's people paid Cohen.  They will fight about the meaning and scope of this evidence a lot.  The indictment seems thin to me in that the "second crime" is not spelled out in great detail.  Not to go all Richard on it, but I would have hoped that Bragg would list the statutes and facts underlying the secondary crime(s).  If I were Trump's lawyers, I know that I would be attacking hard to get this indictment tossed before any evidence is presented.

I have to ask you (Rod did not answer). Aren't you disappointed with Bragg's first round presentation?   Jim

April 5, 2023 10:15 PM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Russ Carroll


I don’t even know what ‘pedantic’ is, let alone form an opinion on a well-written article. I’m still choking down some of Richard’s previous tomes.
Well, Rich is the Muhamad Ali of pedantic argument!  (Nit picky)  

April 5, 2023 10:20 PM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Russ Carroll


BTW he’s very likely guilty as hell. The obvious “second crime” is tax fraud. Paying off a hooker is a personal expense, not a deductible or business or campaign one. Still should be left alone in the case of a US President under these circumstances.
That was my thinking too.   But whether the NY felony business records statute can leverage a federal "second" crime is an undecided question.  Literally, according to Vox, this issue has never been decided in NY.  If we are talking about NY tax laws, Bragg could have said so.  Also, since it is arguably unfair to convict and jail a person for a criminal statute being applied in a new and unprecedented way, the US Supremes could step in and say that the prosecution violates due process.  (Again according to Vox).  Jim

p.s.  There are sticky statute of limitations issues too.  The last payment to Cohen was more than five years ago.  According to Vox, that might matter.  All of this stuff in the general "does this statute even apply to Trump's conduct" is decided before anyone even gets to worry about w/n he is guilty as hell.  

p.s.s.  These due process concerns are what separate a free nation of laws from a banana republic or dictatorship.   Thankfully we have a robust judicial system, with a strong foundation of due process.

April 5, 2023 11:08 PM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Richard Davis

One thing is for sure.  The 3rd branch of gov't is destroyed now and in a pile of ashes.  
Why?  What I see here is an interesting and informative display of due process.  Why is the judicial system in ashes?  This is clearly an unsupported overreaction to a questionable prosecution.  The judicial system is fine.  As we watch this case play out, you might learn something about due process.


Politically speaking, this is mother's milk for Trump.  His fundraising is up.  His poll numbers are up.  Bragg has frozen the news focus on Trump for a long time going forward.  Everyone on the right, up to and including Mitt Romney, thinks this prosecution is politically motivated, because it is.  Every day that passes makes me think that Trump will win the nomination, with a healthy assist from the media and over-zealous prosecutors.  A cynic would say that this is intentional and that the media and Democrats are hand-picking the R nominee.  We'll see how that works out for them... 

April 5, 2023 11:11 PM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

That's not what you stated in post 115. Here's what you did state: "Here is a commentator from the uber-lefty Vox site who says, "Probably not." 
I'm disappointed in your misleading statement...
Well pardon me Richard.  I should have said, "Here is a commentator from the uber-lefty Vox site who says, in my opinion, "Probably not."  I would have thought that a rational reader would understand that this was my opinion, given the context of my post.   

April 5, 2023 11:48 PM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

As I had already stated in my prior post, I think the author of the Vox article is attempting to present all sides of it in an effort to inform the read of the legal ramifications of the case so no I don't think  the author believes Bragg "will probably not" win the case.
Nor do I think our justice system lays in ashes. I think it's absurd to think that it does based upon a case that hasn't come to trial. Some people in the forum and in the GOP don't like it, have been biased against it before the indictments, don't like what they see in the indictments, and fortify each others belief system in their own echo chamber. Bragg believes he has a case. A grand jury believes he has a case. Let's hear what a trial jury has to say without the legal gymnastics in the form of the appeals due to supposed conflicts in state vs federal law that have been described in the Vox article occur that may potentially negate a guilty verdict at trial. THAT would indicate our system lies in ashes since the judicial system would be manipulated in in order to make it happen...
No reasonable person thinks this.

April 6, 2023 12:30 AM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

As I had already stated in my prior post, I think the author of the Vox article is attempting to present all sides of it in an effort to inform the read of the legal ramifications of the case so no I don't think  the author believes Bragg "will probably not" win the case.
Nor do I think our justice system lays in ashes. I think it's absurd to think that it does based upon a case that hasn't come to trial. Some people in the forum and in the GOP don't like it, have been biased against it before the indictments, don't like what they see in the indictments, and fortify each others belief system in their own echo chamber. Bragg believes he has a case. A grand jury believes he has a case. Let's hear what a trial jury has to say without the legal gymnastics in the form of the appeals due to supposed conflicts in state vs federal law that have been described in the Vox article occur that may potentially negate a guilty verdict at trial. THAT would indicate our system lies in ashes since the judicial system would be manipulated in in order to make it happen...
Hi Rod:

I'm not sure I understand your point here.  The procedural arguments and appeals must occur and be fully resolved before any trial to jury.  It would be a horrible breach of due process to make a defendant face a trial on the facts before the State proves that probable cause for a prosecution even exists.   Part of probable cause is demonstrating to the court and appeals courts if necessary that the criminal statute is applicable.  When Trump's lawyers make their pre-trial motions, Bragg is going to have to prove that he has evidence of a specific second crime, and if the courts rule that the crime Bragg has in mind won't work for whatever reason (federal v. state, statute of limitations, not in NY etc.), then the felony case is over before trial.  It must be that way in that order to be fair to the defendant.  Jim

April 6, 2023 12:59 AM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Richard Davis


Well you are free to whine about your own impotence of thought and reason to be able to counter posting #128, but the fact stands that you have been continuously failing to answer the simple question I posited which is this:

What is the 2nd or underlying crime upon which Alvin Bragg is basing his recitation 34 times of code 175.10.

Don't blame me for your inability to answer.

Your leftist hack cited it and is now running and hiding under his desk when asked to elaborate.

His cowardly response, like all corrupt thugs is to say "I'm not required to say".   

The words of a weasel and a thug prosecutor. 
So far you have not given any reasons why the justice system is in ashes, or why the US is a banana republic.  I know post 1 and post 128 are silly hyperbole, you know it is silly hyperbole.  You are just bent because the man you admire so much has been indicted.  Your one true love is in jeopardy.  So you lash out at the system.  Pretty weak.

April 6, 2023 01:38 AM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Ok, I see and appreciate your point here. I think the legal wrangling based upon the the concerns in the Vox article can and will be resolved as a normal matter of course by Bragg prior to trial. What I'm referring to here is the lengthy manipulation of the legal system by the appeals process that characterizes the typical MO of team Trump. He has already been admonished and his lawyer fined by a judge in another case for a mil for pursuing frivolous legal folly in court. I don't expect that pattern to change though. Do you?     
Not likely. 

Just speculating, but if that pattern does change, it is because Trump has valid defenses here.  In cases like the "election fraud" matters, Trump's allies had no case whatsoever, and so they foolishly thrashed about manipulating the system and making unsubstantiated noise until each of the judges threw out the case and sanctioned the lawyers.

April 6, 2023 03:36 AM Forum: Politics

Trump Indicted

Posted By James Brown
Originally Posted by Richard Davis
So I'll ask for the 7th time, what was the 2nd crime?

Surely there is a leftist here or a "Lawyer" who can answer.  wink


Well..... perhaps not.  smile
Have you read any posts in this thread, other than your own?  Possible candidates for the second crime include federal tax evasion, NY state tax evasion, violation of federal campaign finance laws, violation of NY campaign finance laws.  As Rod, I, and others have discussed extensively, I believe there are significant problems with any of these second crimes.  I notice that you have stayed out of the substantive discussions.  I wonder why?

Before you address any of that, I've asked about 4 times what evidence you have that the US system of justice is a "pile of ashes?"  So far, just crickets.

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