This is really stupid

[#juan]

American Exception
Serving Life for Providing Car to Killers

Oscar Sosa for The New York Times
Ryan Holle, 25, convicted of murder, is serving life without the chance of parole at the Wakulla Correctional Institution in Florida.






By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: December 4, 2007
CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla. — Early in the morning of March 10, 2003, after a raucous party that lasted into the small hours, a groggy and hungover 20-year-old named Ryan Holle lent his Chevrolet Metro to a friend. That decision, prosecutors later said, was tantamount to murder.
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Murder, Once Removed This is the second in an occasional series of articles that will examine commonplace aspects of the American justice system that are actually unique in the world.
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Readers' Comments

if (acm.rc) acm.rc.write(); The friend used the car to drive three men to the Pensacola home of a marijuana dealer, aiming to steal a safe. The burglary turned violent, and one of the men killed the dealer’s 18-year-old daughter by beating her head in with a shotgun he found in the home.
Mr. Holle was a mile and a half away, but that did not matter.
He was convicted of murder under a distinctively American legal doctrine that makes accomplices as liable as the actual killer for murders committed during felonies like burglaries, rapes and robberies.




http://tinyurl.com/2sf6hh

 

[#juan]

This poor guy was railroaded by a stupid law.

 

[Toro]

If you've ever been to Wakulla county, you'd understand.

 

[#juan]

I don't know Toro. I can't think of anything that would make me believe a man is guilty of murder when he was not even there. It is a dopey out-dated law that should be scrapped.

 

[#juan]

From the article:
Terry Snyder, whose daughter Jessica was the victim in Mr. Holle’s case, said Mr. Holle’s conduct was as blameworthy as that of the man who shattered her skull.
“It never would have happened unless Ryan Holle had lent the car,” Mr. Snyder said. “It was as good as if he was there.”

By that same reasoning, the guy's parents are guilty as well because they brought the guy into the world. I can understand that when there are multiple offenders in a bank robbery and somebody gets killed, all are responsible in part. The guy had no control of how the car was being used or what it was being used for.