spacecrime

Charges were dropped against Santonio holmes, but he was ordered to give money to the COPS?

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/PIT/9584109

Prosecutors dismissed the charge against the Steelers' first-round draft pick, but he was ordered to donate $250 to the police officers assistance trust fund. The 22-year-old Holmes had pleaded not guilty to charges that he blocked traffic and refused to obey a police order to move.

If charges were dropped, why did he have to give anything? And why to the cops? It's not even a fine. He was ordered to donate.

They arrested humdreds that weekend. At $250 a crack, that should really top off the old cops trust fund, eh? Maybe they can make it an annual event.

I think this is bogus, even if it is probably the third thing that CT and I agree on....

VJCPatriot

Because money makes the world go round and even if SH is a jerk he has a whole lot of it and plays pro sports to boot.

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DarrylS

For a guy like Holmes he will get confused and not get religion, as he will probably re-offend again. IMO it would have been better for him to get some type of sanction greater than a $250 contribution, as he will take this as he is above the law. We will read about his off field law breaking exploits again.

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Julius

It makes you wish we lived in a third world country where at least tha police are up front about shaking down the populace. I'd rather they cut the charade just pull out the gun and rob you like any other criminal. But then again he was arrested in Miami. When the world trade talks happened. They cordoned off the whole downtown and arrested over 500 people who seemed like they might be protesters kept them in jail for a week and then released them without pressing charges of any kind. South Florida is not part of America anymore.
As for Holmes this incident will do nothing to change who he is.

sarge

Yeah, cause those cops man, they get paid a ton for such an easy no risk job.

dryheat44

It's really not all that uncommon. Many times a judge will order the perp to donate x amount of dollars to charity in lieu of facing charges. I would have preferred the money go to the Red Cross or whatever, but some judges award the money to the offended cause (i.e. domestic violence charged dropped in exchange for 1000 donation to a shelter for battered women, which might be Holmes' next courtroom adventure), so maybe in his mind this applies. The judge and lawyers make the arrangement, not the cops.

Not to say the police aren't involved in shakedowns. My experience in the bar business tells me that they're as bad as the mob. Just an added cost of doing business. It's worse in most other countries than here.

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When it's third and 10, you can have the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time. -- R.I.P. Max McGee

Welker83

Police were cracking down on "reveling" down in south beach. There were something like 143 arrests in two days...all for minor charges. The project was just to put out a point of emphasis. They just want people to be more responsible, but they don't want to scare away the tourists(very important) so they allow everyone to put in a written plea and get it dropped in exchange for a small "donation"....

Basically if you were having a good time walking with friends to another bar you had a high chance of getting arrested for some crackerjack charges...

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Pujo

It's technically a plea deal where the result is a "continuance without a finding" - as long as he does whatever he agreed to, charges are dropped. He didn't have to accept the deal but then he would have faced criminal charges for the original act. It's not bad in this case because it keeps the case from clogging the court, and he's rich enough to fight the charges if had really thought he was innocent. Of course poorer people sometimes take plea deals because they can't afford to effectively defend themselves in a criminal trial, but that's getting OT.

edgecy

I came from a third world country, and let me tell ya, the police are even worse than the ones here. In Malaysia you have to "bribe" the police to file a police report if you were robbed, if you have a traffic violation you have to pay the police officer (not to the court or anything else) to get out of it, and if you want to get a driver license, you better have a few hundred bucks ready.

Just my experiences. I am much more grateful for the police here. Now that I am in the US, I realize how good we have it here, despite a few flaws.

shmessy

Roethlisberger, Porter, Holmes.....The Steelers may have won the SB last year but I feel pretty smug about my team.

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