Yes people at Disneyland, in queues and as they...well what is the word for walking like a supermarket cart that has no sense of the presence of other beings...veered in front of us, prattled on about the accident in which some person's feet were removed by a freak accident. We, of course, avoided all injury simply by sticking our legs outside the roller-coaster cars; arms in the air, feet in the air, subverting Disney's conformist oppression right?
Our newspaper today contains the following tale or short story about even more non-conformist behavior, which needs no comment from me:
A 47-year-old Southeast Portland man who hit a Beaverton drug dealer in the head with a hammer with such force that the victim lost an eye will serve 7 1/2 years in prison for first degree assault.
Washington Count Circuit Judge Donald R. Letourneau sentenced Antonio "Sid" Igisomar Wabol on Monday to the mandatory minimum term and did not tack on any more for first-degree burglary and unlawful use of a weapon. [snip]
Letourneau noted that jurors apparently believed Wabol when he testified that he did not mean to kill [Troy] Messinger. Wabol, a native of Saipan who came to the area in 1979 to attend college, said Messinger threatened him and his family, so he attacked first to make sure the drug dealer left them alone.
Jason Allen McCollum, 31, of Southeast Portland testified he didn't know what Wabol was going to do when he drove him to Messinger's apartment. Jurors convicted McCollum of third-degree assault, but found him not guilty of attempted murder and the same crimes as Wabol faced.
Letourneau sentenced McCollum to three years' probation and credited him with the four months he spent in the Washington County jail awaiting trial.
Letourneau ordered the two defendants to undergo anger management counseling, submit to random drug testing, stay away from Messinger and other prosecution witnesses and pay $127, 481 for the victim's medical bills.
David Ritchie, safe for the moment in Portland, Oregon ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
