Norwegian sentenced to 7.5 years - made a wrong turn.

[Hoofey]

Didnt see a thread about this, so..


Taken from http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002601538

http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/ar...artid=10073343 Translation follows

http://translate.google.com/translat...073343&act=url


This is a story about what must be one of the most unlucky people ever. This is a guy that moved to the states because he was bullied at his school in Oslo. In 2002 he studied in Chicago. He was assaulted by two people while jogging, and in September the same year his school kicked him out because he might be a terrorist. He sued the school so that he might continue his studies elsewhere.

He has spent the last seven months in Navajo County Jail, mostly isolated, with handcuffs and foot chains, convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The weapon: His moms rental car.

On Saturday 24th of September last year, John and his mother were driving from Los Angeles to Chicago in John´s Volvo. His mother was driving, when a warning light comes on indicating something is wrong with a tire. She decided to exit at the first opportunity, Winslow, Arizona. However something is wrong with the steering and they crash in the central reserve.

They are taken for a check-up at Winslow hospital, then they need a rental car. A taxi driver took them to Flagstaff where they could pick up a rental car, then they headed back to Winslow to get their belongings. On this day, the annual music festival was going on in Winslow. John mistakenly turns into Winslow´s 2. street going the wrong way down the one way street full of people enjoying the festivities. John drives slowly but some people still hurl abuse and make threatening gestures towards the car.

When he tried to turn into the Auto Shop where his Volvo was towed, a crowd surrounded the car and his mother panicked and told him to get out of there. He backed up against a curb and got a flat tire. He stopped a few meters away from a hot dog stand. There is a woman and her kids inside the hot dog stand, the car never made any contact with them or the stand. Many of the witnessess thinks this is deadly dangerous driving. They drive around the block, enter 2. street the right way and stop. The car is surrounded by people. Michael Mendoza, saw what happened from his store and had chased the car around the block thinking John had attemted to kill his wife and children. John has the window rolled down and is reciving verbal abuse when Mendoza shows up and punches John in the face, spewing blood all over the steeringwheel, breaking his nose.

He panicks, hits the gas, turns in the street and leaves as fast he can. During this maneuver one woman surrounding his car has her toe run over, another woman was scratched as she jumped away from the car. Those are the only injuries.

John calls 911. Right after this, at least 10 police officers show up with their weapons drawn. Both his mom and John is arrested. John has not been released since.


It turns out that the angry witnesses are all related or friends. His lawyer Criss Candelaria, a former DA of 22 years, calls it a scandal. The honrary consul of Norway to Phoenix, Professor George Olander at State University of Arizona says the case is shameful for the United States, and that a ticket for reckless driving would have been enough.

The translation from www.vg.no is really bad, with words like shotgun and Lars farm (Larsgard). No shots were fired.

Here's some lines from the court.

When Larsgard said he would have calmed down if Mendoza had talked to him in a normal way instead of punching him in the face, breaking his nose, Mendoza got up and left to courtroom, FLIPPING HIM OFF as he walked out.

One of the witnesses also claimed that Larsgard had screamed that he would kill everyone after he had his nose broken, when Larsgard denied it another witness left the courtroom angry.

Now, the people from Winslow say that when they saw him driving the wrong way, they approached him and he asked for directions, but he refused to go with those directions and went crazy, going on a rampage. (This is from a comment made by someone claiming to be from Winslow, the same guy said that his reckless driving caused him to lose his bumper and that he was on pills, but you can clearly see that the bumpers arent damaged on the video.)


Heres some more info on this insane case...

-It took 5 weeks before they even started investigating this case
-The judge is up for a re-election this year
-He is in an isolated cell with only a toilet, a sink and a tiny matress to sleep on. When he asked why he couldnt stay in a normal cell with the other inmates, the cops said that letting him walk around with the other inmates would be like letting a shark loose in a fishbowl (Or smth like that, implying he would kill em all)

This is all the info i could dig up right now, i know it is kinda one-sided, but there is pretty much no media coverage of this in the US. The few comments i was able to find really isnt reliable.

Theres probably more details around this, but seriously...


/discuss, n no "LOL AMERICA TARDS SUX OLOL" and so on!

[Adam Jensen]

What?

Aggravated assault with a car?

That's reckless driving, not aggravated assault. Fine the man, maybe a day or two in jail and then let him go. 7 years is beyond overkill.

There's something going on this article isn't mentioning.

[Theodon]

What?

Aggravated assault with a car?

That's reckless driving, not aggravated assault. Fine the man, maybe a day or two in jail and then let him go. 7 years is beyond overkill.

There's something going on this article isn't mentioning.

I'm of the same opinion. There is something major missing from this for such a ruling to not get hammered in a higher court. The judge may have political motications to do this to the guy, but another shouldn't.

[gb4200]

Hard to say what happened without being there, but I can see how a mob could get out of hand, and that guy would have a hard time cause its really the town vs. him. Although with all the bad shit that has happened to him, apparently, it's hard to believe he is completely innocent in all these situations. He could very well be a dbag who blames other people for treating him shittily when maybe he is the dick.

[Deleted]

I'm of the same opinion. There is something major missing from this for such a ruling to not get hammered in a higher court. The judge may have political motications to do this to the guy, but another shouldn't.

well, it happened in a country where you can become a millionaire by walking against a glass door

[Pendulous]

And what of the guy that punched him, giving him a bloody nose and forcing him to take off in the first place?

[Reeve]

I'm of the same opinion. There is something major missing from this for such a ruling to not get hammered in a higher court. The judge may have political motications to do this to the guy, but another shouldn't.

Agreed. If it really happened the way the article in the OP states, any guilty ruling should be overturned in appeals. A shame the guy has to go through that process though.

[jmacphee9]

if this is true then its horrible, but it doesnt make sense, something is left out.

[Reeve]

And what of the guy that punched him, giving him a bloody nose and forcing him to take off in the first place?

Larsgard could easily get the DA to bring up Mendoza on charges of assault and battery.

[Deleted]

/discuss, n no "LOL AMERICA TARDS SUX OLOL" and so on!

...
What could we possibly say??? Even in my country where justice is retarded in the opposite way (today a policeman killed a well known gangster who was armed with a loaded revolver and a (fake) grenade, and justice took the policeman in custody for murder... because it can't be legitimate defense if the aggressor don't kill you first... Yeah praise that logic)

Well even in my country this could not happen.

I think this is time to reconsider a looooot of things in your justice system.


Plus, I loled irl reading this:

in September the same year his school kicked him out because he might be a terrorist

I'm pretty sure it's because of Breivik. Like "HURR DURR A MAN FROM NORWAY IS A TERRORIST SO EVERY MAN FROM NORWAY IS A TERRORIST HURR DURR".

Another reason to not move in the US...

[Reeve]

if this is true then its horrible, but it doesnt make sense, something is left out.

Agreed, something sounds seriously wrong with this story. There must have been a reason for that many people in the town to go crazy on Larsgard like that.

[Hoofey]

Plus, I loled irl reading this:


I'm pretty sure it's because of Breivik. Like "HURR DURR A MAN FROM NORWAY IS A TERRORIST SO EVERY MAN FROM NORWAY IS A TERRORIST HURR DURR".

Another reason to not move in the US...

This was in 2002 i think, and afaik, every foreigner in arizona who studied biochem was branded a "terrorist" after 9/11. (Again, taken from a silly unreliable comment)

[Blackspur]

I'm pretty sure it's because of Breivik. Like "HURR DURR A MAN FROM NORWAY IS A TERRORIST SO EVERY MAN FROM NORWAY IS A TERRORIST HURR DURR".

Another reason to not move in the US...

Except that happened in 2002, 9 years before Brevik...

[Catta]

Would never happen in a place with a sane judicial system like Norway...

[Sole-Warrior]

Wreckless driving =/= aggrivated assault.
What is aggrivated assault? Me going out and attacking people either with a bat, a hammer, or unarmed combat.

[Pendulous]

Wreckless driving =/= aggrivated assault.
What is aggrivated assault? Me going out and attacking people either with a bat, a hammer, or unarmed combat.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedicti...avated+Assault

the crime of physically attacking another person which results in serious bodily harm and/or is made with a deadly or dangerous weapon such as a gun, knife, sword, ax or blunt instrument. Aggravated assault is usually a felony punishable by a term in state prison

Injuries due to vehicles definitely falls under that, but I don't think the lack of intent should really lead to that decision.

[cFortyfive]

Read the same thread over at tl ...found the part with the witnesses mostly being related and or friends rather funny.

[Northern Goblin]

I can't help but facepalm. If I ever met that guy I'd put an arm round him and buy him a drink of whatever the hell he wanted, he needs it.

[Catta]

I can't help but facepalm. If I ever met that guy I'd put an arm round him and buy him a drink of whatever the hell he wanted, he needs it.

Bare in mind a beer costs like 7 € in Norway :P

[Bearshield]

Small town, predominantly not white and a foreign white guy comes through and crashes (no pun intended) their parade. (and before you ask about my racial assumption, I'm from AZ and have been through Winslow) Basically all this guy did was show up to the wrong place at the wrong time and now he's getting screwed. My question is (and mind you I don't know a whole lot about how Consuls work) why hasn't the Norwegian Consul been able to get him out yet? The whole situation seems bogus to me. And what happened with his mother?

---------- Post added 2012-04-25 at 02:52 PM ----------

Bare in mind a beer costs like 7 € in Norway :P

We have beer over here too, it's the least someone could do for the poor guy.