I can't believe this guy's lawyer wanted probation

[CatWoman]

Dad who filmed sex with daughters gets 60 years


Steven L. Pease

An Alpharetta father who repeatedly raped his oldest daughter and molested her two younger sisters and broadcast some of the abuse to Internet video chat room viewers, was sentenced Tuesday to 60 years in prison.

Steven L. Pease, 40, did not make a statement during the sentencing hearing. Through his attorney, he asked a Fulton County judge for mercy.

But Superior Court Judge John Goger said this was a case that "cries out for punishment," not rehabilitation, as he imposed the sentence.

Most of the abuse occurred while the girls' mother slept or while she was working three jobs to support the family, Alpharetta police said when Pease was arrested.

The prosecutor lobbied for a life sentence for Pease, whose girls are ages 5, 7 and 12. Boring said the girls were terrified about having to testify if the case had gone to trial and they couldn't handle coming to court Tuesday and seeing their abuser.

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2007/02/06/0206metpease.html?imw=Y

[Bethany Rockafella]

1. Ugh!

:puke:

[acmavm]

2. Chemical castration? Bullshit, I say dull pocket knife.

[CatWoman]

4. dull, RUSTY, pocket knife

[hlthe2b]

14. Thinking more of the tools used on bulls & stallions...

They are called "crushing emasculators" for a reason... Divert your eyes, DU males....

[John Q. Citizen]

39. I'm sure you believe it would make you feel all good and righteous to

inflict pain, torture, and brutality on this person.

But my bet is it would actually make you feel like a torturer and a brutalizer.

It would make you no different than the perp.

[CatWoman]

43. oh, calm the fuck down

will you?

I certainly would not take it upon myself to mete out vigilante justice, but a girl can dream, huh?

[John Q. Citizen]

50. Well, thoughts do have power. Your dreams of

rightous retribution are kinda unhealthy, IMHO. In fact I see them as part of the problem and not part of the solution.

I'm a single dad with three school aged kids. I certainly don't want sickos like the convict running around committing atrocities against any children.

At the same time, I do want a society based on law, not on retribution fantasies.

So you might consider calming down a bit yourself.

Sorry if I've interrupted your dreams.

[philosophie_en_rose]

55. Smug condescension is also unhealthy. nt.

You might want to consider that people are entitled to feel what they feel.

People that feel calm and relaxed about pedophilia enable it.

[John Q. Citizen]

57. Well I certainly am not calm and relaxed about violence or I wouldn't have bothered to

post to this orgy of violence thread.

Rape is a violent act. Molestation is a violent act. Fantasizing about torture is a violent fantasy. Fantazizing about having complete power over another helpless person is unhealthy.

Not speaking up against it enables it.

Perhaps you can tell me how you feel.

[philosophie_en_rose]

53. No kidding. Should we should prance and hug in these situations?

I bet that would make us feel so happy. . . like Barbara Bush.

Or perhaps we should gently shake our heads and sigh over this sad, sad situation. Because I'm sure that would solve pedophilia. The poor pedophiles are just misunderstood. I bet if we loved them enough, they'd totally stop. :eyes: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

I'm with you, CatWoman. This man deserves much worse than he'll ever get. And feeling angry does not equate anyone with child rapists.

[quiet.american]

3. Horrific. Glad he's locked away. n/t

[NaturalHigh]

5. There isn't a hole deep enough or dark enough...

to throw this human waste.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. I'm pretty sure...

that's the kind of thing lawyers are supposed to do.

:shrug:

[CatWoman]

9. but isn't she a human being first?

:shrug:

I hope he gets sent to Robot Hell

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Yeah.

And as a human being, she's got an obligation to defend her client.

:shrug:

[CatWoman]

15. and, as a human being, she has an obligation to see that

those children are protected from future abuse from this animal

:shrug:

put his ass in jail and let him get his kicks with his cellmate, Bruno.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Yes.

And she had an obligation to defend her client.

This is basic criminal justice, Cat.

[redqueen]

34. Nevermind...

question answered downthread.

:hi:

[philosophie_en_rose]

56. True. It's the prosecution's job to prove the offense.

And defense lawyers only make sure that the process is followed, so - in any event - they're not the ones to blame is a guilty person goes free.

[etherealtruth]

30. Cat Woman ...

...as despicable as this guy is (he is, and deserves whatever life brings him) OUR legal system deserves to have competent attorneys fighting for the rights of their clients.

In this case it's hard to say that this guy deserves anything ... but, in the general picture the accused need someone fighting hard for them ... besides, the attorney had to have known that there was no way in hell this scum would receive a light sentence.

[John Q. Citizen]

31. It sounds as if you would pick and choose who receives legal defense

or the quality of legal defense a defendant should receive based on news reports.

It also sounds that you believe his lawyer is a "bad person" because she argued for probation.

I am glad he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced.

I am deeply saddened for the harm and brutality he inflicted on his children.

I don't wish him raped, murdered, or tortured.

I can't understand how people believe the solution to brutality and cruelty is more brutality and cruelty. It just doesn't make sense to me.

[CatWoman]

37. no, not really

I understand that everyone is "entitled" to adequate defense.

whether they are "worthy" of it or not.

[John Q. Citizen]

45. I wouldn't want to live in a country where an individual determination of

worthiness is a prerequisite to ones criminal or civil rights.

That would be the same as no criminal or civil rights.

[RB TexLa]

22. It is the exact thing they are supposed to do.

An attorney's feelings about what should happen to their client means nothing, they are hired to provide defense at the best of their abilities against the state and act in the best interest of their client. If an attorney isn't comfortable with doing that for rapists, murderers, child molesters, drug dealers, and such there is plenty of work in real estate and other fields of law.

[CatWoman]

23. I know...... I know......

and I'm glad the judge ruled otherwise.

[dragonlady]

29. We have an adversarial system of justice

There's a lawyer for the prosecution, a lawyer for the defense, and the judge or jury to make the final decision. If the defendant's lawyer makes an outrageous argument, the prosecution's lawyer is there to argue against it.

[rurallib]

7. I don't believe in capital punishment and

I don't believe in torture, but a case like this almost makes me change my beliefs.

[Glorfindel]

13. I have read that the other inmates "take care" of monsters like him

And they aren't bound by legal niceties the way law enforcement personnel are. Somehow that thought gives me a bit of comfort in cases like this.

[RebelOne]

41. Yes, it makes me feel better, too.

He will definitely get the punishment he deserves when he goes to prison. Even the most hardened criminals don't look kindly upon child abusers or molesters.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CatWoman]

10. easy. his name is

Roberto Gonzales :)

[redqueen]

35. I'm astounded by that evaluation as well...

but can we shitcan the praise for jail rape? It's really sickening.

[LeftyMom]

48. Alert on it when you see it, please.

The mods make it go *poof* when somebody brings it to their attention, as it is against the forum rules as well as those of human decency.

[redqueen]

49. OOPS!

Jeez, now I really feel stupid. I didn't know it was against the rules already. I just sent a mail asking that it be made an alertable offense.

:blush:

Thanks for the newsflash!

:dunce:

[LostinVA]

54. Thanks, Redqueen

Rape is rape, and should never be used as a punishment. For ANYONE. It's a crime.

[RB TexLa]

11. If you don't ask for probation, you're sure to never get it

Often times criminal defense lawyers ask for things they are never going to get either because the client wants them to ask or they really want to try to start negotiations from a far, far starting point.

[kenny blankenship]

16. At least his daughters weren't whisked away to some Yankee re-education center

where they'd be forced to live without the benefit of them good ol' famly valy-uhs.

[Horse with no Name]

17. I can't even comment

:mad:

[meegbear]

19. My thoughts exactly ...

no words could describe my feelings.

[salin]

20. rape - then rape again by broadcasting the act.

The depravity of some is frightening. Horrific.

At least this is a rape thread/case where folks can't turn it around into blaming the victim. (sorry but am still a bit raw from the other thread that is still bouncing around - even after details became clear - a few are still trying to paint it as an 'evil victim' situation.)

[CatWoman]

21. those poor kids are going to be screwed up in the head for life....

[liberalhistorian]

25. I will never, ever, ever, ever, EVER understand the

"blame the victim" phenomenon, I never have whenever it's been used in anything.

Believe me, as a paralegal, I've seen sickos like this more times than I'd care to think about. Those poor girls will be scarred for life, no matter how much counseling and help they get. And the guilt their mother must feel has to be horrible.

Lawyers are obligated to defend their clients no matter what they personally think, and no matter what, so I think that's what the case was here. I'm sure the lawyer realized that there was no way in hell he was going to get probation. Both she and her client must also be aware of the special brand of "justice" meted out to child molesters in prison, particularly those special sickos who molest their own children and especially if those children are as young as these poor little girls were. Believe me, I don't think he'll last too long in prison. And I ain't shedding any tears over it, either, no sirree.

[Arkansas Granny]

24. I realize that even criminals deserve to be defended in court, but

I couldn't believe that his attorney made this statement:

She pointed out that Pease admitted his crimes by pleading guilty in January to rape, incest, child molestation, aggravated child molestation and aggravated sexual battery. "From Day One, he has accepted responsibility. He has been deeply regretful," Walker said.


No, lady, he only accepted responsibility after he got caught! He definitely deserves the sentence he received.

[CatWoman]

26. I tried, somewhat, to make a similar observation above

and was reminded TWICE that she was only "doing her job".

Go figure....

[JacksonWest]

27. Well, it's his Lawyer. The guy has a constitutional obligation to defend him.

Yeah, this guy should be put in a deep hole somewhere. But the lawyer has to advocate for him. Ick. What a horrible job that must be.

[no_hypocrisy]

28. In defense of the defense lawyer, according to Model Rules,

the attorney has to be a "zealous advocate" of the client. And that means if the client wants the attorney to "do anything and everything" to keep him/her out of prison, the attorney has to use whatever is permissible. That doesn't mean the defense attorney HAS TO be successful, only has to make a motion and hope it gets granted. As a defense attorney myself, you don't have to like your client or what your client did. You stand in his/her place and ask for constitutional rights -- yes, use the system. You are really defending the courts system more than your client in reality.

[redqueen]

38. You just answered what I asked upthread.

Thanks.

And kudos to you for having the strength to do that job.

[no_hypocrisy]

47. Thanks. n/t

[ThomCat]

32. I'm always amazed that anyone can

do things so incredibly horrible and vicious, and then not committ suicide afterward. The very idea of what this guy did is enough to make me sick, but the idea that anyone would want to live with themselves afterwards?

I guess if you are that callous, heartless, vicious, and cruel you really don't care. x(

If he doesn't get murdered in prison, I hope he's there for the rest of his life.

[redqueen]

33. MERCY?!

How DARE he?!

:nuke:

And the mom worked three jobs, huh? WTF was this monster doing?

[CatWoman]

36. he was obviously doing his part to contribute to society

:sarcasm:

[Katherine Brengle]

40. That made me cry...

People like deserve to die, and I'm not even a death penalty supporter.

Those poor children :(.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CatWoman]

46. i just can't imagine...........envision

someone doing something like that -- and videotaping it even.

[LeftyMom]

51. Please do not make statements in favor of rape on DU. Rape is never an acceptable punishment.

This is not fucking Pakistan. :grr:

[Katherine Brengle]

52. I agree --

as much as it pains me to think about this man escaping any of life's ills at this point, I'd prefer not to see posts like these.

[porphyrian]

44. He's going to be treated well in prison. - n/t