Help me out on this one

This week in Fayette State Court, I witnessed the Solicitor's office ask the Judge to "suppress" the fact that a young man had just served 15 months in Iraq. ( He was on trial for a DUI that had happened before he was deployed ). The reason given was they didn't want that fact to "sway the jury", yet the same Solicitor took over two hours telling the jury how great the arresting officer was and how many "certificates" he had.
Isn't it strange that we line the streets for the brave soliders that lost their lives over there but for the lucky ones that make it back, we ask that they not be recognized?
The more I learn.....the more it makes me sick!

Help Me out...

Submitted by AtHomeGym on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 6:02pm.

Is there something missing here? Is a DUI that is more than 15 months old normally settled by a jury trial? Was the accused represented by counsel? So did the Judge agree with suppressing that information? It would seem to me that most jurors would be able to distinguish between the accused's purported infraction and any military service. Sounds like the Solicitor is indeed pre-judging the jury and their possible resonses. Bet the Solicitor never served.

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The truth......the whole truth

Submitted by highflyer2 on Fri, 09/25/2009 - 6:42am.

The reason the DUI was over 2 years old is that The solider was in Iraq 15 months of that time. The other months were spent getting it out of Fayetteville city court and asking for a jury trial. The Judge pretty much laughed at the Solicitor and said that he was sure it would come out in testimony any way. The accused was represented by Steve Harris which took it free of charge.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that if you do something wrong you shouldn't be punished. I'm just saying that from what the USA has been through the past eight years, we should shake EVERY soldier's hand we see and NEVER ask them to SURPRESS that fact!

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