Hans Reiser in Court Today 496
An anonymous reader writes "Hans Reiser has pled not guilty to murdering his wife and invoked his right to a speedy trial. He will attend a hearing today where the judge will decide if the state has a case " We had covered this story back when it had first broke; and for those of you playing catch-up, Hans is the author of ReiserFS.
Re:his wife (Score:1, Insightful)
Way to RTFA...
We had covered this story... (Score:2, Insightful)
Yet somehow you managed to never run a single story on James Kim.
Re:We had covered this story... (Score:2, Insightful)
Errata for original post (Score:1, Insightful)
I hate grammar Nazis.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Thank you media (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally I like the fact that national media leaves a lot of local stories uncovered. It gives the accused a chance to have an unbiased jury, though a change of venue may be required. If they're cleared, the minimal media slam means they can rebuild elsewhere after the page 2 apologies fails to change the minds of those who "know" they're guilty.
Papparatzi chasing famous people while they make fools of themselves in public is one thing. That same mentality destroying careers on the basis of accusation instead of conviction is not what "freedom of speech" was ever about.
Canadian courts typically restrict publication from the initial hearing onwards. The only time you see further information is if the defense is making preliminary statements about their planned approach, especially if they expect to raise constitutional or human rights issues. That serves to warn the bar that there may be a precedence case coming up.
I hope the accusations turn out false, but Hans' infamous temper isn't going to help him with this argument.
Re:Interesting thoughts... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Free Hans (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Thank you media (Score:1, Insightful)
Reiser's wife probrably wasn't as attractive as Laci Peterson. The media only showcases good looking victims.
Re:We had covered this story... (Score:5, Insightful)
Regarding Reiser, as much as it pains me, I think I have accepted that unless they can really clear him of the picture painted by the circumstantial evidence, he's up shit creek. If he did kill her, then he deserves it. A lot of arrogant geeks seem to think they are godlike and that they can get away with anything. It's possible that he fits that standard mold to a T. If he didn't do it, then his side had damn well better find proof because that's what it's going to take at this point. The speedy trial thing actually has me worried. While it's something that I believe everyone should be guaranteed, I also know that it's possible that with the right lawyer he could get away with murder on a technicality. That would not be right, but it's not like it hasn't happened before. Crimes of passion can be quite ugly and I think they do throw the perpetrators mentally out of whack for life. If he did do it, he's certainly got internal demons that will follow him for all the days of his life. Sadly, based on his biography, I'd say he seems to be a perfect fit for the type of arrogant geek who thinks they can get away with anything as long as they plan it well enough. That kind of geek needs to be knocked down the entire set of ladder rungs and then have their face ground into the dirt and through the other side of the planet. Maybe then their overinflated egos will be right sized to a humble enough level. Note that I feel I can say this because I AM a geek and I do believe I have limitations which I happily accept.
The one thing you didn't mock (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Thank you media (Score:5, Insightful)
Reiser's wife probrably wasn't as attractive as Laci Peterson. The media only showcases good looking victims.
Other factors:
Laci was pregnant. Laci went missing on Christmas Eve (I believe). Laci had a lot of friends and a large family, all of whom coordinated a media blitz.
Re:Give him a laptop and let him work (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:We had covered this story... (Score:4, Insightful)
He's a guy who apparently owned neither a GPS NOR a 406 EPIRB.
They weren't out hiking in the wilderness as I understand it. They drove down a closed seasonal road by mistake and got stuck.
Do you carry an EPIRB in your car? I know that I don't.
Re:We had covered this story... (Score:5, Insightful)
I also know that it's possible that with the right lawyer he could get away with murder on a technicality. That would not be right, but it's not like it hasn't happened before.
Those technicalities that everybody hates so much are what keeps our Government in line. If the police screw up and overstep a warrant or "forget" to Mirandize a suspect then that evidence should be thrown out.
If defendants couldn't win on "technicalities" then what incentive does the Government have to follow the rules?
Re:Free Hans (Score:4, Insightful)
And Hans is allegedly a murderer, what's your point?
Re:Free Hans (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm going with "The one who all the evidence points to", namely Hans.
Re:Give him a laptop and let him work (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interesting thoughts... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Give him a laptop and let him work (Score:3, Insightful)
This has nothing to do with rehabilitation. Where did you see that word in my post or are you just trolling...?
Re:Why I think Nina Reiser is dead (Score:0, Insightful)
Hitler, is that you?
Re:We had covered this story... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Give him a laptop and let him work (Score:2, Insightful)
Vengeance is not justice - it's a triumph of raw emotion over rational thinking. It may be satisfying to some, but it's not something on which a safe and stable society can be built upon.
Re:Give him a laptop and let him work (Score:1, Insightful)
So how do you account for the fact the prsion population is at a record high, and higher as a proportion of the population than just about any country apart from the US and China? Doesn't sound very liberal to me.
Re:Give him a laptop and let him work (Score:3, Insightful)
Selective enforcement of laws that makes everyone a criminal is a sure road to oppression.
Don't drop the soap. (Score:2, Insightful)
That's what all the anal rape is for.
Re:Free Hans (Score:1, Insightful)
And with that said, BDSM is not unhealthy, unnatural, or indicate further problems. Maybe more deviant than other sexual practices, but not abnormal.
Re:Why I think Nina Reiser is dead (Score:4, Insightful)
That's ALL women.
Re:+1 Informative on the MQR standard (Score:3, Insightful)
I certainly haven't seen all the evidence, but from what I've heard so far, it just doesn't look good for Hans.
Re:Free Hans (Score:4, Insightful)
Nina's boyfriend Sean Sturgeon allegedly practices BDSM
Assuming that's true, exactly how does practicing BDSM mean you're a likely murder suspect?
raped Nina, made death threats against Hans
Both hearsay arguments made by Hans. I'd like to see some kind of evidence for this other than an ex-husbands allegations.
engages in "death yoga"
I didn't know what this was until I read the article, but apparently it's just slowing down your heart rate. How does that have anything to do with someone being a likely murder suspect? Oh it does have the word "death" in it, so it must somehow involve actually killing people. Are people who listen to "death metal" also potential murder suspects?
cheated with a married woman,
This is probbably at least likely (since the two were together before her death). But what does it have to do with him being a murder suspect?
and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Hans Reiser:
Another allegation by Reiser which we have no other real evidence for. But even if true, why is that a motive for him to murder Nina?
Hans Reiser, on the other hand, is a linux developer.
Ahh.. well obviously if he does anything I personally like and approve of he can't be a murder suspect.
Guess which one the cops arrested and which one isn't even a suspect?
Maybe the one who Nina Reiser had a temporary restraining order against him in 2004 for allegedly pushing her? A restraining order is really easy to get and isn't proof that Hans was violent. But it at least shows she was afraid of him. I don't know if Hans did it, the other guy did it, or neither. But the facts that we have point more toward Hans at the moment. Casting suspicion on someone who you have really no evidence to suspect is simply dishonest.
doesn't interest nerds (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We had covered this story... (Score:3, Insightful)
But you can also look at history and find examples where staying put would have meant certain death. For instance, the surviving passengers of Uruguayan Flight 571 (known from the book and movie "Alive") only made it because two of the victims hiked out of the mountains. They had been given up for dead.
Re:Nina got $8,000 a month in alimony (Score:3, Insightful)
This one [cbs5.com] mentions that he was sued for not paying child support. I'm guessing a significant portion of that $8k was child support, not actual alimony. I feel strongly that if you willfully create a life, you should be held responsible for it/them, and it shouldn't take a court order to make it happen.
Although I do think alimony is complete BS. But that's what prenups are for.
You talk like you think Reiser did it (Score:3, Insightful)
Recall the case of Chandra Levy, once an intern working for former Congressman Condit. When she vanished, many people had no problem believing she had been murdered, and thinking up motives Condit might have for doing it, with the most popular being so that she couldn't talk about the affair he had with her. Circumstantial evidence started pouring out, and things were looking very bad for Condit for a while. Condit lost the next election, but was never arrested or charged, and a year later they found Levy's remains, which enabled them to come up with scenarios that happened not to involve Condit at all. Last I recall, the most likely perpetrator is thought to be a particular thug who was in the area at the time.
Maybe Reiser has stronger motives. Maybe the reason no body has been found is that Reiser is too smart to slip up that way. Talk about having a geek reputation come back to haunt someone! If he's so smart, wouldn't he have thought of other ways out of his difficulties? Smart enough to get away with murder (maybe) but not smart enough to think of other actions that would serve his purposes, or realize how just the suspicion of murder would trouble him for years even if it was never pinned on him? Doesn't add up. Maybe Nina went for a jog and some random criminal did it. We don't know. The state arresting Reiser without better evidence is looking like a mistake. Either they're needlessly harassing an innocent, or they're blowing their chance to put the murderer away.