STrib: Former Mankato coach Hoffner vying for Minot State job

[Bob_Loblaw]

Bob-it's called Due Process. Thankfully we live in a Nation where you can express your opinion and I can express mine. Where your confusing facts is that the IT Department, the Police Department and the Prosecutor can claim anything they want to claim. The "It was disturbing" comment is an opinion, not a fact. At the end of the day, the Judge ruled Hoffner was innocent of these charges. Agree or disagree, the Legal System was followed and the facts came out.

I am aware of Due Process and this discussion has absolutely nothing to do with Due Process. Nothing. Like Zero. I am not saying Todd Hoffner should be retried and I am not saying that he's guilty of anything. I'm saying that it is obvious, from the facts of the situation, that reasonable minds could come down on both sides of the issue. I have no idea where I would come down, I haven't seen the videos.

To illustrate my point, OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony were both found not guilty. That doesn't mean the court of public opinion or the facts of the situation should change. I'd venture to say almost everyone on this board considers OJ a murderer, regardless of the jury's opinion. Tons of people have been executed to later be proven innocent via DNA evidence after the fact. Was it just that those people were executed? I mean, the court found them guilty and punishment was determined?

Yep, the "it was disturbing comment" was an opinion. I never argued that it was anything but an opinion. In their opinion it was disturbing and in the judge's, ahem, Opinion, they were not disturbing. Funny, that's exactly what I've been saying the entire time.

Yes, the legal system was followed and I have no opinion. Unlike you, I'm not going to pretend to know exactly what was on those videos. I support the legal system and I think it should be respected. However, the facts did not come out. The videos aren't public (they shouldn't be), so all we know is a judge's opinion on a video tape that didn't come out.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

A professional specializing in this matter said it wasn't pornographic, and they didn't find anything else related to porn in his possession.The kids were interviewed by professionals and checked out clean. Why would a guy hand over his phone if he knew he had kiddie porn on it? At worst he did something socially awkward.

How can a prosecutor bring this to trial without having professionals sign off? The DA faces reelection and hopefully this will inspire someone good to step up and run. Mankato was on fire without him coaching and that made it a tough call too.

Yep, and professionals specializing in this matter also deemed the videos to be problematic. My point isn't that the videos were pornographic, just that the case is probably a tough call where people could come out on both sides. Professionals specializing in this sort of thing did.

People hand over their electronics with child pornography on them all of the time. The guy from The Who had a computer full of child porn that was discovered when he got his computer fixed. Just a couple weeks ago a guy in California brought his computer in for repair and they discovered child porn and that he was a central figure in some child porn ring. It happens all of the time.

Neither you nor I can make a judgment on what he did, we haven't seen the tapes. One person described one way and another person described them another. You're choosing to believe one person's opinion over another's, but you can't pretend to know. Either can I.

If you watch a criminal case, both sides often have expert testimony on both sides of issues in which they specialize. That stuff should be given weight, but it isn't conclusive and it shouldn't be. The police department also has professionals who DID "sign off".

So you think DA brought these charges because he was aiming at reelection? Wasn't he kind of damned if he did and damned if he didn't? He's now getting blasted by people who think he tried to ruin an extremely popular coach life for political reasons. If he didn't bring charges, people would argue the opposite. This isn't a case like the Duke Lacrosse case where there would be pandering to some segment of the population.

 

[GoldenRodents]

Yep, and professionals specializing in this matter also deemed the videos to be problematic. My point isn't that the videos were pornographic, just that the case is probably a tough call where people could come out on both sides. Professionals specializing in this sort of thing did. .

Loblaw, these "professionals" where self protecting cowardly bureaucrats. You have two choices, either Hoffner had a laissez-faire attitude about childhood household nudity plus and ignorant concept of his cell phone privacy, or he is a deviant monster. You can easily check out the monster angle by checking out his hard drive, associations, marriage, doing a psych work up on the kids. He cleared all of these suspicions, yet we still have to proceed as if he is a deviant monster and let the judge decide. That is pure legalistic debauchery.