Source: timesleader.com 8/27/21
WILKES-BARRE — In what attorneys believe to be the first in Pennsylvania, an Edwardsville man convicted by a Luzerne County jury of possessing child pornography was sentenced Friday to spend the rest of his life in state prison.
Joseph J. Davis’ apology had no effect on Judge Tina Polachek Gartley, who expressed compassion for the jurors when they viewed video of two children being raped during the trial. Although no sound was played to the jury, Polachek Gartley said the images from the video will be forever imprinted on the jurors’ minds.
“Myself and 16 jurors (including four alternates) have seen evidence that could never be unseen,” Polachek Gartley said, noting the jurors observed the most vile acts imaginable committed upon children.
Davis, 66, formerly of Bertram Court, Edwardsville, was convicted on two second-degree felony counts of dissemination of children engaged in sex acts and two third-degree felony counts of criminal use of communication facility following a trial that ended March 24. He also had two previous child pornography convictions.
That prison sentence is simply insane! It’s too bizarre that I could download and distribute videos of ISIS beheading people all day long with no legal repercussions, but this individual receives a life sentence? 😳
I don’t see why after two previous convictions that he wasn’t required to have some monitoring device on his computer. That simple thing could have prevented this. And then have regular polygraphs to ensure he isn’t using other devices. He clearly has a compulsion he can’t resist. And his attorney should never have allowed him to go to trail, in these cases it is a never win. The prosecutor will always show images which will turn the jury against him.
What continues to puzzle me is how the LE can track these guys to their home, but they just can’t seem to track where it is all originating from, and disrupt the flow. It is almost as if they allow it to flow so they can keep their giant budget for tracking these people, raiding their homes, and convicting them.
So when they do the same thing as he’s doing it’s no big deal? Outrageous sentence that will be appealed.
With two previous convictions, the guy is obviously a slow learner. But something in the report is stuck in my craw.
“Despite not actually having child pornography seized from Davis’ computer, state Deputy Attorney General Angela Lynn Raver obtained the videos Davis had saved on his computer when the videos were downloaded from a peer-to-peer online program.”
I have some difficulty understanding that quote. It said no pornography was actually obtained from his computer. How could the prosecutor prove that he had downloaded and saved the videos? Was it merely conjecture stitched together from IP routing data? Were the videos advertised and distributed by LE on the P2P network? Good intentions are irrelevant. There is no exception in the law for LE to distribute porn, which makes them also criminally liable. LE at many levels have been violating these laws with impunity for decades. That assertion is demonstrable from numerous court case decisions.
At sentencing, the judge took into consideration that the jury was traumatized by having to watch the videos. Prosecutors subjected the jury to the videos merely in order to outrage them. Possession could have been demonstrated by extracting less traumatizing still frames from the videos. So who traumatized the jurors?
Veritas.
Clearly P2P “Sharing” is an act wholly enabled because of the advent of an interconnected electronic database and infrastructure. Americas head first dive into a world of unfettered use was a fatal mistake to any conceivable form of human republic. The registry \ database as a prophylactic use of a database by gov was also the first time in history human had been lawfully enslaved to the maintenance or upkeep of database. This is not my doing. It is not the first time human has been enslaved to a machine. Nor is it the first time humans have been compelled by law to erect a monument. Obviously, the registries are mainly administrative, nevertheless the administrative also represents the bulk of the labor of judges and lawyers. If the Rehnquist court’s argument holds perhaps judges should make less wages for their mainly administrative service? For me it is a simple equation: Either free men are paid wages to maintain machines or; They are not.
This man’s cases are a perfect example of the enabling done by the choice to opt for unfettered use of the database. The internet is far better at enabling than it is as a prophylactic, and facial recognition is meant to fix that. If a powerful state can enslave citizens to a database, what with respect to constitutional liberty remains in the way of the far more powerful federal. Keep in mind, with many registrants application (use) was promulgated without fair notice at the time, nor with aid of an attorney. No reason then to think the feds are not exercising unfettered use. We witnessed it in the playpen case. I’m truly sorry the sex offenders and the gov database are inextricably connected. That surely is not my doing! That is not offenders doing either, that responsibility falls heavily in the lap of leadership. Before I end, here is a local current event. Also enabled by the way
I wonder how many Public Defenders in America are getting blackballed and forced to resign because they fought to hard for someone charged with sexually assaulting A child or possession of CP, the fact these two attorneys had to get help from ACLU instead of the Public Defenders office were they worked speaks volumes.
Defending people forced to register or defending someone who committed a sex crime has to be physically and mentally hard. In 1975 Hillary Clinton was an attorney in her book “LIVING HISTORY” she talks about representing A guy who raped A 12 year old girl, before taking the case she told her superiors she really didn’t feel comfortable taking on such a client, her supervisors told her she had no choice because the judge requested it.
Shortly after Hillary call the judge who assigned her to the case and told him “I don’t wanna represent this guy, I just can’t stand it I don’t wanna get involved can you get me off” the judge said no.
45 years later rumors started going around that Hillary Clinton volunteered to defend A rapist who was found not guilty and when asked about it she laughed.
People who sacrifice their lives and reputations to represent people forced to register are literally sent from GOD.
Good luck
Don’t be surprised if the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturns this one. They overturned Bill Cosby’s conviction with prejudice based on improper use of witnesses of alleged past behavior. Here’s in this case the state Supreme Court rule they could force him to give up his password to his computer. So they turned around and convicted him based on images supposedly downloaded to who knows where. Then they use the most shocking video to show that he downloaded CP material which got him convicted. Seems to me this guy has a reasonable shot at the Supreme Court helping him out.
While this ordeal is very sad its the one’s that place the porn on the web to start with. Guess Janice’s forum and constitutional justice covers it all. Three things one never talks about in mixed company, Sex, Politics, and Religion. This world is cold enough. Look at the Covid and that can tell a person a lot. While this topic and forum can get a bit off keyed seems many American people eat this up. Their is a cure for everything but man isn’t gonna find it with computer cybersabotage. Even many of these ordeals can be classified as sabotage of an off colored nature.
Even with this database being preached sounds like a presentation of some Newton’s Theory or an Adam’s rib law of sexcavation, or even something to temp others with some type of sexual assault. A judge watching porno. What will American’s do next in a court of law? One just wonders what holds pants up today or should we go for the big deal as Monty Hall says.. Teenage kids, Adult kids, or provocative encounters of a pornographic issue. One would have to say someone does have issues.
Basically the Law is their to protect and serve. So what went wrong with those “Thinkers” back in the day. Independance and true justice are dust in the wind today as their is only one type of justice and that only comes from the bible. This database has always been a theory type crap. Sounds like something Bill Gates would come up with to defend his Country or maybe some type of yahoo skid mark to apply to ones issue.. Final jepordy answer… take away the porn on computers and no crime.
All considerations of morality aside, he ended up with a life sentence primarily because he took it to trial, which was his right. And in fact, he had to take it to trial in order to preserve his rights to appeal. It will be interesting to see where this goes from here, as there are some quite significant civil rights issues, which, I’m sure, is why ACLU got involved. It is unfortunate the man will have to sit in prison for years before it can be fully resolved. It does seem that there should be better ways of dealing with him than sending him to prison — that really serves no one.
I’m sorry, but I see absolutely NO REASON to even have this article here. This is a THREE-TIME felon, and has no standing to garner an ounce of sympathy from any of us. The problem is that people like him paint registrants into the same category, so it is imperative that we should draw a very clear line between the behavior of his actions with that of over 99% of all other registrants.
In short, the registry is a travesty that punishes people as well as keep up the fiction that all registrants are like this felon. But we should, no we MUST draw the line at times. This is one of them.
This guy is an addict – not a violent criminal. Why are the taxpayers paying to imprison him? What will it gain? Send him to a place that treats addiction and wean him off the “drugs”. Maybe require him not to have electronic devices as part of his parole. Maybe he’ll be a more productive member of society? Putting him in a box with actual violent people and be in danger for the rest of his life from potentially “righteous” criminals is inhumane.
This is an example of the Trial Penalty. Judges want to throw the book at defendants who had a plea deal and refused it.
Also, he is 66. In his case, 20 years and life are probably the same. /:
But this was CP with kids being raped and his third conviction. There’s a big difference between nudity and rape.