Appellate Court allows appeal in Johnson case

[wmcovol]

Attorneys for AJ Johnson and Michael Williams will be able to appeal the ruling preventing phone evidence from the two "victims" phones the today of the alleged rape. Defense attorneys think evidence on these phones that would show the victims intent that day was destroyed when the victims both "lost" their phones the day following the alleged attack.

KNS has stories up about this ruling. Nothing from the Tennessean.

 

[UT Hill Man]

 

[montanatenn]

Attorneys for AJ Johnson and Michael Williams will be able to appeal the ruling preventing phone evidence from the two "victims" phones the today of the alleged rape. Defense attorneys think evidence on these phones that would show the victims intent that day was destroyed when the victims both "lost" their phones the day following the alleged attack.

KNS has stories up about this ruling. Nothing from the Tennessean.

The Tennessean will claim thuggery and strong arm tactics by the university, if not Butch himself.

 

[allvol123]

Me and my friends lose our phones on the same day all the time. Nothing odd about that.

 

[BowlBrother85]

Attorneys for AJ Johnson and Michael Williams will be able to appeal the ruling preventing phone evidence from the two "victims" phones the today of the alleged rape. Defense attorneys think evidence on these phones that would show the victims intent that day was destroyed when the victims both "lost" their phones the day following the alleged attack.

KNS has stories up about this ruling. Nothing from the Tennessean.

Hmmm, I figured Anita would be all over this like flies on s***. Maybe she just had the day off or something?

 

[Crew]

Nice.

 

[BP4Prez]

I'm very bad with legal stuff. Does this mean they will be able to use it or it will be appealed to yet another judge?

 

[chargervol]

I'm very bad with legal stuff. Does this mean they will be able to use it or it will be appealed to yet another judge?

Not allowed to use it yet. The answer probably won't come for months. Article mentioned that these will be groundbreaking rulings on the subject of access to media not kept by police initially.* as I understood it* Why something apparently so important wasn't initially kept?, Not going to speculate. May be an important lesson for the future.

 

[SayNoToJorts]

How in the world did that evidence get banned in the first place? Would you not want to know all of the facts especially if you have nothing to hide? If overturned that would be a win for justice no matter what they find on the phones

 

[Coug]

I'm very bad with legal stuff. Does this mean they will be able to use it or it will be appealed to yet another judge?

It means they will be able to file an appeal in the hopes to overturn the judge's original ruling of not allowing the phone evidence. There is no guarantee to the outcome of an appeal but the fact that they're allowed to file for an appeal now could wind up being great news.

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

How in the world did that evidence get banned in the first place? Would you not want to know all of the facts especially if you have nothing to hide? If overturned that would be a win for justice no matter what they find on the phones

There's no precedent for it because social media is still considered to be somewhat new ground legally.

As for the investigation, most police departments probably don't think about/prioritize the alleged victim's FB messages when they're investigating a sexual assault.

 

[chargervol]

There's no precedent for it because social media is still considered to be somewhat new ground legally.

As for the investigation, most police departments probably don't think about/prioritize the alleged victim's FB messages when they're investigating a sexual assault.

My wife's obsession with true crime shows - First 48, web of lies, forensic files, etc.. has given me 2 realizations.

1. How important social media has become in modern investigations.

2. I think I should keep my eye on my wife's obsession for crime shows and for any additional insurance policies attached to my well being. :ermm:

 

[Darth_Shiveman]

My wife's obsession with true crime shows - First 48, web of lies, forensic files, etc.. has given me 2 realizations.

1. How important social media has become in modern investigations.

2. I think I should keep my eye on my wife's obsession for crime shows and for any additional insurance policies attached to my well being. :ermm:

Hahaha well as far as #1 goes, it's crazy how so many people don't realize that every text message, social media message or post, message board post, etc leaves a trail that is basically uneraseable.

 

[1orangews6]

Wow, not allowing the use of the phones that could probably help prove them innocent or guilty. Why wouldn't they allow that? I think it's kind of odd that both young ladies lost their phones on the same day.

 

[VolnJC]

I thought this was both interesting and sad..after all the talk and delays..the grand jury apparently only heard testimony from two people

A source familiar with the investigation said the only witnesses to testify before the grand jury were a Knoxville Police Department detective and the woman who said Williams and Johnson sexually assaulted her. Grand jury testimony is secret.

 

[jbr82]

There's no precedent for it because social media is still considered to be somewhat new ground legally.

As for the investigation, most police departments probably don't think about/prioritize the alleged victim's FB messages when they're investigating a sexual assault.

Those police depts are clueless and need to get on the ball. Common sense

 

[GAVol]

I thought this was both interesting and sad..after all the talk and delays..the grand jury apparently only heard testimony from two people

A source familiar with the investigation said the only witnesses to testify before the grand jury were a Knoxville Police Department detective and the woman who said Williams and Johnson sexually assaulted her. Grand jury testimony is secret.

Not really that surprising. All the Grand Jury is looking for is probable cause that a crime may have been committed. They're not trying the case.

 

[orange parmejohn]

I haven't followed this story closely but wasnt the intention of these young ladies already concluded? I thought it was a matter of one changing her mind at the last moment.

 

[norrislakevol]

Something is very rotten here. This is one of the reasons that I think that people who bring false charges should be prosecuted, or at the very least have to pay the persons who were falsely accused attorney fees.

 

[Wolfeman_Vol]

Something is very rotten here. This is one of the reasons that I think that people who bring false charges should be prosecuted, or at the very least have to pay the persons who were falsely accused attorney fees.

Agreed. There was something very damning to the plaintiff's case if those phones just so happened to be lost the next day. Text messages can be subpoenaed from the phone company though, and I can't understand why a judge ruled that inadmissible in the first place. And I totally agree, if intent to falsify these charges can be proven against someone, they should be prosecuted with the same penalty as the accused. That would cut down on the vengeful manipulation of the law (and I'm not speaking only of this case or the larger case against ut).

 

[gobraves101035]

I think this will be very good for both the boys and the university.

 

[Capt Straight]

I thought this was both interesting and sad..after all the talk and delays..the grand jury apparently only heard testimony from two people

A source familiar with the investigation said the only witnesses to testify before the grand jury were a Knoxville Police Department detective and the woman who said Williams and Johnson sexually assaulted her. Grand jury testimony is secret.

During a grand Jury investigation, only the prosecuting side of the evidence is presented to the jury. They look at the evidence and determine whether or not there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. The threshold for presenting a true bill is very low.

That means that the grand jury heard what detective presented and what the accuser had to say. In that case, it was probably an easy decision for the jury. I served on a grand jury once.

 

[KBVol]

Me and my friends lose our phones on the same day all the time. Nothing odd about that.

Me and my buddies too. That's weird, right? Every time we claim we've been raped the night before, we just can't find those damn cellphones which are normally glued to us. It's the damnest thing.

 

[Aerie Vol]

Somehow I had managed to not know about the two cell phones being "lost" the following day. My faith is absolutely restored in AJ. This is an everlovin' load of crap. Simultaneous "loss" of cell phones is not typical behavior of a victim. It's possible the ladies are still, in fact, victims, but my belief in that just went way down.

AV

 

[volfan102455]

During a grand Jury investigation, only the prosecuting side of the evidence is presented to the jury. They look at the evidence and determine whether or not there is enough evidence to proceed to trial. The threshold for presenting a true bill is very low.

That means that the grand jury heard what detective presented and what the accuser had to say. In that case, it was probably an easy decision for the jury. I served on a grand jury once.

So why even use a grand jury if they are not going to look at more than this?