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Wednesday, 04 November, 2009
Homeless Witness Gets Shafted
(with comments)
In Pennsylvania: Homeless man who witnessed murder under house arrest.
A homeless man who witnessed a murder was jailed and placed in a house arrest program, despite not committing a crime, to ensure his safety and participation in court proceedings, officials said.
Randy Barr, who had been staying with friends for most of the last two years, is the only witness to the July 6 murder of James R. Leepier. He called 911 after Leepier's throat was slashed during an argument with another homeless man, Harvey Hoover, Barr said.
Why?
Barr is being held under a little-used Pennsylvania criminal procedure rule that allows witnesses to be jailed if a judge believes they will not show up when subpoenaed for court and cannot make bail. Barr was jailed for just over four weeks before being moved to a house arrest program earlier this month.
But it's not so bad. He's allowed to go outside for two hours each day -- as long as he stays in the yard. But...
He was fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet, must check in with house arrest officials once a week, submit to random drug tests and pay $10 a day for the program.
Shown here is a random electronic monitoring bracelet. It may or may not be like the one worn by Randy Barr.
- By Shel-tone. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @08:59am:$10 a day for room and board and I only have to go out side for 2 hours? Where do I sign up?
- By R I C H A R D I N C A L I F O R N I A. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @09:13am:Isn't it an oxymoron to put a homeless person on house arrest?
- By NoHelp. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @10:30am:This whole thing is Kafka-esque, but after all the burdens placed on him, he has to PAY for the privilege?
I may be going out on a limb here, but I am guessing that most homeless people don't have easy access to an extra $310 per month--and if they did, they'd probably blow it on something foolish like food or rent.
Pennsylvania sure knows how to encourage witnesses to come forward. - By andrew. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @10:32am:Pennsylvania is the new Utah.
- By . Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @12:29pm:James Carville once described Pennsylvania as being "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh at each end with Alabama in the middle".
- By Ray Trygstad. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @03:54pm:Yeah, I want to know if he's homeless exactly how he's gonna come up with ten bucks a day.
- By Christopher. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @04:31pm:For two hours a day , He's gonna stand on the front sidewalk with a piece of cardboard that says;
"Not drunk ,not stoned ,just Homeless. Need change for Rent. God bless."
Seems to work in Providence. - By Minderbinder. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @05:19pm:He should cut it off and let them take him back to jail where he'd at least have 3 hots and a cot. But where's the ACLU when you really need them? This guy is getting shafted and the "criminal procedure rule" sounds like it couldn't stand up to our Constitution.
- By Hans. Comment posted 04-Nov-2009 @11:27pm:Barr obviously didn't know the three rules:
1. Never talk to a cop, for any reason. It can only be used against you.
2. Never answer any question asked by a cop, no matter how minor it may seem, without a lawyer. Again, it can only be used against you.
3. Always spit in their food whenever you have the chance. - By Alan Kellogg. Comment posted 05-Nov-2009 @01:21am:The term is "material witness". When a fellow is a material witness he tends to get treated differently. If the authorities have reason to suspect he's not going to show up to give testimony, he gets detained. Everybody handles material witnesses the same way, it's nothing unusual.
- By Evil Klown. Comment posted 05-Nov-2009 @10:29am:
James Carville once described Pennsylvania as being "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh at each end with Alabama in the middle".
SNL just did a hilarious James Carville sketch hammering the crap out of Rush Limbaugh. You libs would love it. "He should win the Nobel Pizza Prize" -- lmao.