Trial Set (June 9) For Radio Host Bernie Ward On Child Porn Charges

[Newsjock]

Source: Bay City News Service

SAN FRANCISCO -- Former radio talk show host Bernie Ward was given a date of June 9 in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday for a trial on charges of receiving and distributing child pornography on his computer.

The trial date was set by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who also scheduled a hearing on pretrial motions for April 24. Ward, 56, a former host on KGO radio in San Francisco, is accused of three counts of receiving child pornography, knowingly distributing it and attempting to distribute it in December 2004 and January 2005.

His defense attorney, Doron Weinberg, has contended the case stems from an "error of judgment" made by Ward when he spent a few days looking at pornography images and exchanging images with other adults when doing research for a book on hypocrisy.

Outside of court on Thursday, Weinberg said he is looking into two areas of possible pretrial motions that might challenge the charges.

One area is whether there is a First Amendment or journalistic research exception to prosecution under criminal pornography laws, Weinberg said. The second area is whether federal laws setting penalties for Internet child pornography are arbitrary and unfair, the attorney said.

Read more: http://www.nbc11.com/news/15132096/detail.html#

[varkam]

1. No exemptions.

The feds are even preventing defense lawyers from obtaining copies of pictures in child porn trials. If defense lawyers don't get an exemption, then I don't see how journalists could get one either.

I do think, though, that at least in a few cases the penalties are arbitrary and unfair. In Arizona a man is serving 200 years for 10 counts of posession.

[izquierdista]

2. Can't have those pictures being shown!

So much easier to convict when no one sees the pictures in question! :bounce:

[mitchtv]

3. I don't see a conviction from a SF jury

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=141x29253

[truedelphi]

4. If authorities considered Ward to be a pedophile, it seems that they should not have

Waited more than two or three years to get around to pressing charges against him.

So what is the real agenda here?

Probably to penalize and to punish someone who has been outspoken of Bush since Day One.

Also, it's possible that Ward offended some higher up in the Catholic Church as well - just last winter, he was asking callers to let him know if they could think of one good result of a person taking vows of celibacy. Despite his being a Church-going Catholic, he is a very critical thinker.

[Vanje]

5. Chilling

"So what is the real agenda here?"

I'm chilled.

I only just heard about the accusations against Bernie Ward.
I'm sick about it.

I need to hear Bernie Ward on my radio.
I miss him.
I depended on Bernie for my news.

I'm just sick.

[Political Heretic]

6. I really don't want to assume that he is guilty OR innocent

"Innocent until proven guilty" has nothing to do with public opinion, it has to do with the court of law. For me personally, I want to try hard not only to not assume he is guilty, but also don't want to assume he is innocent just because I liked his radio show or because he is politically liberal.

Of course it goes without saying, or natural inclination if this had happened to a conservative radio personality would be to assume that person was guilty and take great pleasure in it. There are good reasons for that actually - for one thing we have a very long listen of documented examples of closeted conservative deviant behavior. A very long list. For another thing, its a somewhat natural reaction (even if sometimes its expressed in ugly ways) to feel a sense of retributive satisfaction when someone who acts in an unjust way seems to get what they may deserve.

But still the truth is, many times the facts don't matter. Had it happened to a conservative, he or she would have been tried, convicted, and skewered by the community before a single piece of evidence was presented. I personally want to try to avoid doing that when I can and keep the facts and evidence in mind.

Thus, I try to apply the same principle in this instance. I have no idea what happened, so I reserve judgment. But the simple fact that this person was a liberal or had a good talk show doesn't mean anything. It doesn't give him some sort of special exemption from the potential to do something wrong. I don't assume he is guilty and I don't assume he is innocent. If he is guilty, I do not want to make any excuses for him or be any more lenient on him in the court of public opinion that I would be for anyone else. If he is guilty, then I hope that he is convicted and sentenced appropriately. If he is innocent, I not only hope that he is acquitted, I also hope it is possible to investigate how these charges were formed, who or what was behind them and if there was any political motivation to them (though I must admit, given to what he has already admitted to, I find that difficult to believe.)

[truedelphi]

7. Ward's an intelligent guy - I think if he was guilty he would have cleaned up

His computer's hard drive and then gone about his life.

These photos are over twenty four months old - if authorities were truly concerned about him being a pedophile, why would they leave him alone for so long?

[truedelphi]

8. Noted Press org that exonerates him here

http://tinyurl.com/2mx48f


This is from the San Francisco Penninsula Press Club

[varkam]

9. Doesn't exactly exonerate him.

As the article notes, there is no exemption for journalists who are conducting research on a story. The Adam Walsh Act even prevents defense attorneys from having copies of the images that their clients are charged with posessing.

[FiveGoodMen]

10. Laws named after kids!

[varkam]

11. Gotta love 'em!

You can't of course be against that law without somehow also profaning the memory of Adam Walsh. It's a language game.

[truedelphi]

12. The sad thing is that when you now google Bernie Ward,

You get pages of RW bloggers who say "Bernie Ward, the leftie pedophile"

Even <if> he beats the charges, his reputation will be in the sewer for a long time.

[truedelphi]

13. Point noted! Thanks.