August 24, 2009

Becker in court Thursday

Former mayor Gary Becker will be in court Thursday for a motion hearing on charges that he tried to hook up with an undercover state agent posing as a 14-year-old girl. Becker's jury trial is scheduled for Oct. 13.

Here's our story from July about what he's been doing this summer.

37 comments:

  1. BREAKING NEWS:

    The hearing will probably be postponed again, with no reason or explanation given whatsoever, just like last months hearing.

    Elitists always win.

    PARTY ON RACINE GOVERNMENT!!!!

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  2. Corporate money makes Racine funny.

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  3. Becker will continue to bang aqway at the legal system, as long as the system allows him to do so. What a travesty.

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  4. Becker has the same rights as the rest of us.

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  5. Gee, you're right. Since he hasn't been convicted of anything, let's let him go to a secluded place with your 13 year old daughter to have a discussion about the legal system.

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  6. The pervert was caught red-handed. This isn't just accusations made by one person against another, he actually made the initial contact to an email address he thought belonged to a 14 year old girl (the agent DID NOT contact him). He then showed up at the arranged place and time for a meeting with the child as outlined in his on-line conversation with her. He was also caught red-handed with child pornography on the hard drive of his computer. He also signed statements to that effect.

    Here is an Adobe Reader .pdf link to the actual complaint filed against him and a printout of the conversation he initiated with the agent believing he was conversing with a 14 year old girl. (Note: if the link won't open, right-click and save it to your hard drive. Then use Adobe Reader to open it, that's what I had to do):
    http://www.cbs58.com/gary_becker_complaint.pdf

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  7. Sorry, here's the page that contains the above link (copy and paste it into your browser, the above link is located a little bit below the picture of Gary Becker): http://www.cbs58.com/index.php?aid=5985&

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  8. 11:13 - old news.

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  9. He has a good lawyer. If he had a public defender he would not be out free today. The lawyers corrupt our justice system. If you can afford a good atty you can get away with anything. We need to make it easier for people to be able to represent themselves and bring lawyer fees to more reasonably reflect the work involved.

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  10. Money can buy anything - isn't is great?

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  11. Tim the Shrubber8/25/2009 3:49 PM

    "Gee, you're right. Since he hasn't been convicted of anything, let's let him go to a secluded place with your 13 year old daughter to have a discussion about the legal system."

    That is a total red herring, and does not not really address the comment about Becker having the same rights as everyone else.

    Are you seriously making the claim that Becker does not have a right to a fair trial within the structure dictated by our laws? That is a pretty F-ing scary idea in my book.

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  12. I already sent over my 12 year old, but I guess she was too young. Let the rich prevail.

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  13. Anon 11:39, it may be "old news" to you, but there are a lot of people who never did read the conversation this sick puppy had with what he thought was a 14 year old girl. It's pretty sickening stuff.

    Tim the Shrubber, as for whether or not this jackass should be out running around the streets, well, NO he shouldn't. This didn't happen because someone accused him of being a pedophile, he was caught in the act! Until he's cleared all of our teenage daughters are in peril with him running loose. If he decides that he just can't hold it anymore, it could be YOUR daughter he goes after next. If it's mine, he's a dead man.

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  14. 6:36 - if they haven't heard about this, they have their head in the sand. It's been covered in the Racine Post, JT's,WRJN, WTMJ, WISN, Fox Six - and has been picked up nationally. This definitely is old news.

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  15. Tim the Shrubber8/26/2009 9:26 AM

    "Until he's cleared all of our teenage daughters are in peril with him running loose."

    So, you prefer the concept of 'guilty until proven innocent'?


    "If he decides that he just can't hold it anymore, it could be YOUR daughter he goes after next."

    Yes, it could be my daughter, which is why I would do my best to keep her away from a pervert like Becker. But, when consider my daughter's long-term safety, I have to consider more that than just the threat from Becker. I do not think that trashing the rights of the accused will leave her safer in the long-run.

    I want my daughter to be safe from both Becker and the government. And I am not willing to give up the things that guard her from government abuses of power just to get Becker. Ulitimately, governments have the potiential to be the bigger threat.

    It is funny...on this site we have multiple people claiming that things like alternate-side parking erode their freedoms, but they are conspicuously absent when it come to defending due process rights. (And heck, I suspect some people compalining about the parking are the same people complaining that Becker has rights. I guess on-street parking trumps fair trials.)

    "he was caught in the act!"

    Is this exactly true? Was he caught in the act of having sex with a minor? No. Is there even the accusation that he did have sex with a minor? No. All we have is eveidence that he intended to have sex with a minor...which is a bit harder to prove. If Becker had literally been caught in the act of having sex with a minor I doubt he would be out on parole.

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  16. What a jerk.

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  17. Thanks to the wonderful police chief Racine has, this guy will walk free. What police chief out there doesn't know you need a search warrant to go through someone's personal items?? Oh yeah, Kurt Wahlen.

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  18. Anonymous 8:14pm

    Kurt called the DA's office before he made any action what so ever to be sure things were handled properly amd because of the clear conflict of interest if something was not done correctly it was the DA's office not the RPD who dropped the ball.

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  19. you notice how all those perverts have that smirk
    in their mugshot photos?

    i call it a pedo-smile


    anyways, becker is a POS and he's going to string this out as long as possible.

    the judge is retiring this year so he's going to let becker off with a slap on the wrist and nobody will be able to do anything about it.

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  20. Tim is a tool!

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  21. Listen, There is no innocent until proven guilty in this case....HE SIGNED AN ADMISSION OF GUILT! He already admitted to the crimes and signed a document saying he did it. He should burn and if the judge lets him walk, we should revolt!

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  22. Hey - this is America and we have a legal system. If Becker's lawyer is within the parameters of the law - then Becker should walk. Do I think is right? No, but then change the system or get rid of the DA.

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  23. Becker walks he knows the right people he has the right skin color
    He has done favors for our owners

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  24. 8:34 - that has nothing to do with it - it has to do with the law and the possible mishandling of the evidence.

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  25. Tim the Shrubber8/27/2009 9:28 AM

    "HE SIGNED AN ADMISSION OF GUILT! He already admitted to the crimes and signed a document saying he did it."

    If I remember right, they had a transcript of the chats and he agreed that he was the other person in the transcript. (I think he signed this document.) But, this is a far cry from being a full-fledged admission of guilt of all the charges of which he has been accused.

    You know, I am not Becker defender. I agree that he needs to be in prison and I want him to stay there, but..

    1) We have a legal system that gives right and protections to the accused. It would not be worth giving these up just to see Becker in prison sooner. (And yes, I say sooner. Despite all his legal wrangling, I don't think that Becker will be able to keep himself out of prison.)

    2) I want Becker to stay in prison once there. This means all the legal rules have to be followed now, or he will just get out on an appeal.

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  26. Tim, I agree that there are legal precedences to be observed and Becker should be accorded those rights. I think what's making so many people upset is that, after signing the chat pages and acknowleding that he was the other party, he should never have been let out on bail. The judge is the one who decided to put the teenage girls in the area at risk by allowing bail. But if he's retiring this year we can't do much to hold him accountable for that.

    And no, he was not caught in the act of HAVING sex with a minor, but he was caught in the act of executing a plan to do just that. If a guy walks into a bank and sticks a gun in a teller's face but is busted before he gets the money, is he still guiltly of bank robbery? You bet he is. Intent has everything to do with it, and Becker acknowledged that intent.

    Thanks to the liberals the criminals have more rights anymore than the victims, intended or otherwise. Again, if this had been somone's accusation against Becker it would be totally different, but it's not. He was CAUGHT perpetrating the solicitation of a minor for sex and attempting to follow through on it. And he admitted it. They should hang the SOB!

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  27. Anon 1:49 -

    Is SPOT ON!!!!

    Couldn't have said it better myself!!

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  28. Pete and Justin where is your coverage of today's hearing - JT has it.

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  29. Tim the Shrubber8/27/2009 3:25 PM

    "If a guy walks into a bank and sticks a gun in a teller's face but is busted before he gets the money, is he still guiltly of bank robbery?"

    Not sure if that is an apt analogy. Becker's case seems more like a guy walks in to a bank with the intent to rob the bank, but a security guard stops him before he can stick the gun in the teller's face and demand the money.

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    "I think what's making so many people upset is that, after signing the chat pages and acknowleding that he was the other party, he should never have been let out on bail. The judge is the one who decided to put the teenage girls in the area at risk by allowing bail."

    I would rather he were not on the streets either, but it would have been difficult for the judge to deny bail. Even people accussed of more serious crimes and with long criminal backgrounds can get out on bail.

    The judge could have denied bail, the decision would be appealed, an appelette court would overturn the decision, and Becker would still be out on bail. It would have been an exercise in futility and the judge knew it.

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  30. I think the bank robber analogy would go like this:

    A would be bank robber enters a fake bank. He is arrested before robbing the fake bank.

    What evidence could be used to prove intent?

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  31. But the robber didn't know the bank was fake, he thought it was real.

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  32. If Becker walks (which I hope he doesn't), Racine only has Kurt Wahlen's incompetence to blame. The guy, by his own signed affidavit, admits to illegally searching and ordering the removal of the computer hard drive without a warrant.

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  33. Wow! Becker will be going to trial and facing all counts! THANK YOU!

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  34. Statute 948.075 has an interseting paragraph:
    (3) Proof that the actor did an act, other than use a computerized
    communication system to communicate with the individual,
    to effect the actor’s intent under sub. (1r) shall be necessary to
    prove that intent.

    Then read the text under that and ask yourself this question.
    What exactly did Gary Becker admit to?

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