I was happy when Rep. Tom DeLay was indicted, but now that there’s a warrant out for DeLay’s arrest, my new emotion is somewhat closer to eager. Is it the mug shot that I’m really looking forward to? Or the fingerprinting? Or DeLay rushing into the police station, suit coat pulled over his head?
I really can’t say. I won’t know until I see it. It’ll be like Christmas morning.
Capias is a standard warrant when a person who has been indicted by a grand jury is not already in custody. It’s not really a big deal.
Not a big deal?!! Are you kidding? There is no such thing as a “standard” warrant. Judges don’t just hand out warrants to anyone that wants one.
If he is convicted and sentenced to 5 years in jail are you going to say: “It’s just 5 years, it’s not really a big deal”
If i were a Republican, watching all this corruption happening right now, I would be hopping mad at my party leaders. Why aren’t you?
Mr. Nelson,
Yes, capias warrants are issued routinely as a matter of course. These are not standard arrest warrants issued by a magistrate after a finding of probable cause; the grand jury already found probable cause in order to indict. Capias is more akin to, for example, a subpoena in chancery as process for a bill of complaint in equity than an arrest warrant.
You’ve made an interesting assumption that, because I consider capias to be not a big deal, I haven’t long been a critic of Tom DeLay. I invite you to check out the compilation of my DeLay-relating postings here and then revisit that assumption. Pardon me for having the objectivity, and understanding of criminal procedure, to know the difference between big things and little things–and this is a little thing.
Please, JD, let me revel in my ignorance. :) It’s all I’ve got left!
On a personal note, I’m a huge fan of both these guys. Steve Nelson is one of the best men Virginia has ever born and the Jaded JD is one of the best weberati Virginia will ever lose (aren’tcha movin’ up north JD?).
Watching y’all cross swords is like watching The Tick v. El Seed. Top 10 blogertainment of the week! sweek!
Maybe I’m just giddy with the prospect of Fitzmas just around the corner.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas… Fitzmas time of year….
JD,
The routineness of it isn’t the point. For years we’ve watched this man as a key player in the dismantling of the America the we all loved. Handing out billions of dollars of defecit money to his corrupt corporate benefactors, attacking gay people in a way that reminds us of the early treatment of the Jews in Nazi Germany. We despise this man for the sick things he’s done to this country. Watching him be handcuffed (crossing my fingers here) and being generally treated like the criminal that he is feels very, very good. America has been pretty short of justice for a long time. We like seeing Delay brought low in the same way that some Iraqis enjoyed seeing Saddam cowering in his ‘spider hole.’
This gives us hope. Hope that other members of Delay’s organized crime syndicate (the Republican party) will also be brought to justice. Rove, Libby, Cheney, Frist and now even Bush are all in the crosshairs. Pretty much the entire GOP leadership could potentially be facing the same fate. All of this and more is why we love seeing Tom Delay get arrested, however ‘not a big deal’ it may be.
Jd-
The fact that Capias warrants are routinely issued doesn’t make them any less of a big deal! Just because we have a lot of criminals go through our court system and warrants are issued all the time doesn’t make warrants a minor issue. The logic in that thinking is flawed.
Like you said a warrant is only issued after finding probable cause, thanks to our constitution. That does not mean he’s guilty by any means but it means there is enough evidence against him for a magistrate to think it’s a big deal.
I agree with the magistrate.
btw, please excuse my over use of the word “mean” in that last sentence. I didn’t mean to be mean by any means. :-)
They have the mugshot up on Drudge. Where are the numbers? It doesn’t even look like a mug shot. They must have cut some sort of deal.
“Pardon me for having the objectivity, and understanding of criminal procedure, to know the difference between big things and little things–and this is a little thing.”
Nelson = pnw3d
At first, it seemed like a little thing.
Early in the morning on June 17, 1972, police discovered five intruders inside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. The burglars were there, it turned out, to adjust bugging equipment they had installed during a May break-in and to photograph the Democrats’ documents.
In the end, after 40 government officials were indicted and a president resigned, many would conclude that the system of checks and balances worked.
The names have changed, but the game is still the same.
But capias isn’t signed by a magistrate, at least in Virginia. (I’ve never practiced in Texas.) It’s so routine, it’s signed by the clerk of court. See Virginia Supreme Court Rule 3A:7. My point perhaps was inadequately expressed in my initial comment: capias is part of the indictment–when the indicted defendant isn’t in custody, capias necessarily and invariably follows. The grand jury returns a true bill of indictment; the prosecutor files the true bill; the clerk prints out a writ of capias and signs it. Tossing confetti over capias, as separate from the indictment, is like tossing confetti over the prosecutor filing the true bill with the clerk as separate from the indictment–it makes a mountain out of a molehill, because there’s no separate discretionary act or finding; it’s purely ministerial.
Jon-
If you’re going to break out personal attacks, with geek talk, at least spell it right! How embarrassing for you.
Capias
A writ to the Sheriff to arrest an accused person.
Tom DeLay and Dick Cheney should call Martha Stewart for advice on how to decorate their cells. I think Cheney will look better in an orange jumpsuit than DeLay will, but Martha should be able to advise them …
Seeing the circle of justice come ’round here renews my faith in America.
I’m assuming you saw this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001962.html
I saw the mugshot, Ross, but not the article — thanks for sending that along.
It’s clear what DeLay was going for, but that could be easily made to look a lot worse. I’d give it a 5% border, tilt it in three dimensions (as if it were being tipped back and to the side), desaturate it to be almost but not quite B&W, and really pull the colors apart, so the brights are really bright and the darks are completely black, and then pull down the contrast on the whole thing. Combine that with the visual of some jail bars swinging shut over his image with a clanking sound, and you’ve got a winner.
“If you’re going to break out personal attacks, with geek talk, at least spell it right! How embarrassing for you.”
Great, thanks for pointing that out in front of everyone. Is it p\/\/n3d? Pardon my dylsexia.
Well, now we know who is 31337 and who isn’t.
;)