Crying Alford
October 26th, 2006The old saying, “You learn something new everyday!” is one I hope to follow and more often than not I do. Today was one of those days, as I came by this article about an animal abuser crying Alford.
A Fairfield woman who has taken in dogs other people didn’t want is now forbidden from having any of her own. Robbin D’Urso was accused of housing nearly 130 dogs in cages in her home. The 44-year-old D’Urso today pleaded guilty under the Alford doctrine to six of 104 counts of cruelty to animals and one count of having an animal nuisance. Under the terms of the Alford doctrine, she does not admit guilt but acknowledges the state has enough evidence to win a conviction at trial. A Superior Court judge sentenced D’Urso to a suspended five-year term and three years of probation. She was warned to not keep animals of any kind in her home or yard during that time period.
I, naturally, think that this type of thing is shady and dishonest, both on the government’s side and on hers. In the government’s case, it allows criminals to get off with lesser sentences for the sheer sake of convenience (although it is understandable, I must admit); in the woman’s case, it allows her the ultimate copout of admitting her guilt without facing real punishment for it (whereas I truly believe that she should fight if she’s innocent and she should concede her guilt if that’s the case, instead of pleading something so cheap). It’s cheap. (Needless to say, I’m no fan of plea bargains or those involved.)
Yesterday, I mentioned the Ford advertisement in Tennessee. Today, that ad was pulled by the GOP and that’s that — but I still can’t figure out what the hell they were saying in the first place.