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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
 Posted - 24/08/2007 : 16:37:52
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| Doesn't California's 'Three strikes and you're out' come into all this somewhere? I am not certain how serious the third conviction would have to be to trigger the big sentence - but I would have thought that illegal possession of a firearm would have been viewed as significant. I suppose that one would have to know the precise nature of his earlier convictions to be able to comment further. But I say let the man rest in peace. He certainly paid for whatever he did wrong and I think that all this will amount to little more than a footnote in the great scheme of things. But his intelligence, his humour and eccentricity, his humanity - and above all, his music ....those are the things that will win him his place in history .... and they will always be there for us to cherish. |
Edited by - John9 on 24/08/2007 17:17:50 |
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scully
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
217 Posts |
Posted - 24/08/2007 : 19:06:52
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John,
Yep, the habitual offender (3 strikes law) did come into this -- the conviction of an offender of a 3rd felony regardless of whether the previous 2 felonies were convicted at the same trial, were plea bargins, or were committed before the introduction of the habitual offender act, is punishable by upto life imprisonment.
I certainly don't want to discuss this, there are much better things to talk about. My point was just that in the end (at the appeal) even the COURT recognised that Arthur was treated in an extreme way, and fortunately set him free to come and play for us all again. Had he had to serve the full sentence (or even if he been paroled at 85% of the sentence) we would not have had those memories. |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 24/08/2007 : 20:42:30
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Yes Scully - I definitely agree with that. I certainly would not be without the memory of that 2002 Manchester gig for anything. |
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barbinberkeley
Fourth Love
USA
110 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2007 : 05:46:34
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| Hey Scully, I just got here and I can see it's gonna be an interesting site. I thank you for the synopsis of the court case. It's very nice to deal with facts instead of rumour and smears on someone who's not around to defend themselves. |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2007 : 15:20:55
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| Yes, Arthur a "flawed genius", pretty apt. As I've said before around here, I just don't really "understand" why I enjoy FC as a great work of musical art. It just works for me. I guess I don't want to put it under any more analysis. But what I do know is that I think the world gets guys like Arthur who at times is like a square peg in a round hole and that we, who kind of sit on the sidelines, can get a glimpse of what it means to go the edge. Arthur and I are two different people and we certainly had different conceptions of life and our lives. But the weird thing in all of this is I got where he was coming from.He opened up a coupla doors. |
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kdion11
Old Love
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2007 : 21:17:06
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Scully earlier wrote:
[/quote]
You come on like a lawyer ('lets see the charges again') but you don't really know what you're talking about. Even the prosecutors would have balked at a charge of attempted murder.
KD: Hey Scully - yep 25 years in the music biz will do that for
you ! Sorry pal, but I do know what I'm talking about as I was in
touch with Arthur's legal team at the time of his incarceration while negotiating the release of Electrically Speaking. Read my original quote again -
"2: Attempted murder (? - not sure if he was charged with this)"
Scully: Arthur had served time before (actually for violating parole) he subsequently stated that he had pled guilty to something he hadn't done, to avoid risking a more serious sentence, but obviously couldn't comply with his parole.
KD: And an other time before that for assult. Get your facts straight yourself !
Scully: He denied firing the gun that night, and gunpowder residue tests taken that night were negative. Had he pled guilty, like a nice ex-con he would have got NINE MONTHS in jail, the fact is the sentence he received was way out of proportion to the crime, because he chose to go to trial, denied the charges and generally behaved like an innocent man would. He got punished for that.
KD: And in retrospect it would have behooved him to plead guilty, serve the 9 months and get on the straight and narrow. Too bad for him he tried to fight city hall and lost ! You've also conveniently forgotten the other serious charges: Being a convicted ex con / felon in possesion of a weapon, and being a convicted ex con / felon
in possesion of ILLEGAL cop killing dum dum bullets. Very serious charges for someone on parole and being an ex con. That would have sent him to prison without the gun going off anyway ! Any info on whether or not Doug Thomas had any gun residue on his hands ? If they found some on him it would have helped Arthur - don't think they found any.
Scully: Arthur was flawed (aren't we all) and made some bad choices. He had substance abuse problems. He shouldn't have had a gun in the house.
KD: You got that right - his charges, his choices - his jail term. So much for "trumped up charges and being rail roaded".
Scully: But is the subtext of your post is that he intended to kill his neighbour (for having the nerve to complain) then go on some 'armour piercing' rampage? I don't think so.
KD: Well that's what the judge, jury and District Attorney thought, never mind the freaked out next door neighbor. Why do you think he called 911 in the first place ? You think he just wanted to get his name in the paper or something ? Once again folks, you pull guns on enough people and bad things generally happen - TO YOU !
Don't forget, in the end the court itself agreed that he'd been railroaded:
KD: Never heard that one. If Arthur was truely "rail roaded" why the hell didn't he sue the County of LA ? Why ? Because he was guilty of at least the majority of the charges - possesion of the gun and possesion of the illegal ammo - which once again was enough to send him down the river. Sugar coat this anyway you want, but convicted felons guilty of stuff like this generally go to prison. The judge and the DA don't care if you are a famous or talented musician.
Scully: The court reversed Arthur's conviction, citing misconduct by the prosecutor and ineffective assistance by his trial attorney. According to Jeffery Anderson, a legal reporter for the LA Daiy Journal, ..."when it was over, Lee walked out a free man, pleading no contest to the shooting charge and having served more than the required time for the possession charge".
KD: Pleading "no contest" is akin to a guilty plea - so much for over turning his conviction. Get your facts straight.
Free the pleas !
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Edited by - kdion11 on 27/08/2007 22:04:55 |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2007 : 22:10:19
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| As I suggested a couple of days ago, let the poor man rest in peace - surely we his fans, owe him that much. |
Edited by - John9 on 27/08/2007 23:13:16 |
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Alone Again
Fourth Love
Ireland
188 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2007 : 23:59:36
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| Yea we should probably get back to the original topic the Pegasus Carousel which i myself recently finished for the first time & i couldnt put it down i found it a very compelling read.not much insight into Arthur Lee but with good reason as Micheal didnt have much contact with him but it was great to read about the inner workings of the band.it'd be great to read an Arthur Lee biography but until someone writes one this is the only insight into Love and Arthur and it is a pretty good one. |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2007 : 14:09:34
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| You know as far as the bio I just wonder who could ever do it. That someone would have to 'know' Arthur a bit, his life and his wanderings and have an understanding of music-making and the biz. |
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barbinberkeley
Fourth Love
USA
110 Posts |
Posted - 31/08/2007 : 22:46:30
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| In this book I got called Riot on Sunset Strip in which Arthur Lee wrote the foreword, he said that he had written an autobiography called Rainbow in the Storm. The foreward was written in 2004, and the book just came out this last June. It was Arthur's story as told to Chris Boyle. I wonder whatever happened to it? |
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Pegasus Carousel
