This city deserves a better class of criminal...

[Raistlin Majere]

Not sure if Bungleau has made a bomb-related post earlier(too tired to look), but atleast Cerek made the most recent

And well, of course, everythings worth something..If he's stealing posters by the armfull, then it starts to look like something other than a prank, but one poster will hardly put the theatre out of business. Of course some counteraction has to be made, but I think the point was that if indeed all he'd have stolen was a poster, then is the rest of his life worth ruining over a 10$ piece of paper? Thats how I understood it anyway.

I'll say it again though, I'm fairly clueless on the details, so I'm just dishing out opinions.

Edit: Haha, talk about irony ZFR I reckon he wouldn't find the "role playing" as funny at that point.. :p

[Bungleau]

Cerek raised the bombs before I did, I believe... I referenced him in my last "I'm done with this" post

For those outside the US, part of the difference between a felony and misdemeanor *can* be the monetary amount involved. Steal $50, it might be a misdemeanor. Steal $1000, it might be a felony. I'm no lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, and neither do I feel like googling the differences right now. So if theft and vandalism are being upped to felony status, it's more than just picking up a poster or two.

The last few times I've been in movie theaters, all the movie posters have been in display cases. After getting in to get the poster, the display case may no longer be in the best of shape. That may be where the bump-up in dollar amount to a felony comes from, but I haven't seen any more details on it yet.

He's supposed to be arraigned in a couple of weeks... if this has died down by then, it might come back to life.

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Bungleau The last few times I've been in movie theaters, all the movie posters have been in display cases. After getting in to get the poster, the display case may no longer be in the best of shape. That may be where the bump-up in dollar amount to a felony comes from, but I haven't seen any more details on it yet.

That's a very good point, Bungleau. Since this was a 6-screen cinema, I suspect all the posters were likely in display cases there as well, which meant the "Joker" had to break the display cases to get the poster. If you look at the article I posted, the charges police expect him to face are theft and malevolent destruction of property. It doesn't tell us exactly WHAT property was destroyed, but it's a good assumption to believe it included the display cases, which can be quite expensive. The "malevolent destruction of property" is obviously what raises the charges to felony status. The "malevolence" could based on the value of the property destroyed or the amount of property damaged. Either way, that is what raised this past the "prank" status and elevated to criminal conduct.

[Lavindathar]

Firstly Cerek, this topic is very one sided.

For the simple fact that to the letter of the law, this man is wrong. Therefore every point you make is valid, because from a legal standpoint, you're quite correct.

The real debate we are having here is an opinionated one regarding common sense, and whether this guy should be punished.

And Bung, if he broke cases, yes, pay for them, and then its no longer funny.

If he's creeping around as the joker, all the guests watching him and laughing, and slowly taking posters off a wall, with everone watching/laughing, then it's comical and he shouldn't be charged.

And the airport thing is totally ridiculous to bring up here, shouting anything about bombs/guns in an airport is like shit-hot serious.

Stealing a poster is different And who says he stole it? Did he leave the cinema with it?

Anyway, it's late, and not up for flaming. But just think it should be a slap on the wrist and hes told to clean the cinema for a week.

[Lavindathar]

Originally Posted by Raistlin Majere posters are pieces of paper, after all,

So is money

[Firestormalpha]

Lavindathar, Cerek posted the complete article on page 3, you may want to read it.

As to whether he should be punished, there is no question. Yes, he should be punished in some way, but the real question becomes to what degree. That is something that the judge will decide. Of course, that is assuming the jury finds him guilty. I'm not sure how they couldn't, but things happen.

strike that, apparently he's already been convicted, as in the last line of the article he gets to face sentencing on Aug. 5th

[Tobbin]

I think a lot of it is gonna be what his track record is. If he has done stuff in the past, they'll probably punish him pretty harsh. If it's his first time doing something, then they'll probably be pretty lenient. I know it's possible, cause that kinda happened to me. I got drunk one night and assaulted a police officer, but they let me off pretty easy. Just a fine, community service (which I guess ultimately got dropped, cause I never did it,) and probation for 2 years. I didn't have any record before that. I got drunk because of severe depression due to my step father dying. So the judge understood there were extenuating circumstances. Could be the same with this guy. Unless he hurt someone, I really doubt they'll do too much.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to add in that although my "crime" initially was viewed as a felony, about 2 years later when the FBI came looking for me to find out why I wasn't doing community service, they changed the felony down to a misdeamonor. I haven't had the "stigma" that others have had with a felony.

[Firestormalpha]

I'm mostly ignorant of what most crimes are categorized as, so for the sake of comparison may I ask, is assaulting an officer of the law regarded as a felony? It sounds like it would be, but I don't have that knowledge.

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior We cannot nab all these acts with the same brush, else we become a society of black and white. There are shades of grey, and that is absolute. I feel like you strongly disagree with his actions, I too feel like he's a fool, but a fool can be funny. This is why judges are human rather than machines who decide one of two outcomes.

There are shades of grey, but this is not one of them.

Steal property = felony.
Felony = not funny.

Cerek doesn't find it funny because he has EMPATHY for the guy. Similarly he didn't find the Epileptic issue funny because he also had empathy for the victims.

You can only find humor in other peoples lives being ruined if you laugh AT the people involved, without empathy, (unless you yourself have gone through the situation and are laughing WITH them at yourself.)

I'm not seeing much empathy in laughing for an idiot who's most probably not laughing now.

[Yorick]

Originally Posted by Lavindathar But just think it should be a slap on the wrist and hes told to clean the cinema for a week.

Hopefully that will be the case.