Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward — the self-professed “thruple” charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence following the bizarre August 2006 death of attorney Robert Wone in Washington D.C. — were found not guilty by D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz, who needed a full hour to read her decision aloud. (The defense requested a judge, not a jury, issue a ruling, and prosecutors didn’t object.) While there was evidence of wrongdoing, the prosecution did not meet the requirements of reasonable doubt to convict, she says. Notes the blog Who Killed Robert Wone, whose trio of on-lookers have been following the case diligently for years, it’s an “acquittal … but not exoneration.” Indeed, even Leibovitz went off on the defendants:
“I’m persuaded the murder was not committed by an intruder unknown to the defendants,” Leibovitz began, turning again to specific findings of fact. Robert Wone was “…entirely immobile…” at the time of his murder. The knife found on the scene, she said – noting testimony from Dr. Henry Lee – was “…used to commit the stabbing…” of Robert. This replacement of the knife was an important element of the prosecutions case, she said, and they had not proven it.
“It is very likely Mr. Price pulled the knife from the victim’s chest,” she continuted, noting that he may well have tampered with the knife but she couldn’t conclude it beyond reasonable doubt. Further, she couldn’t conclude that Price wiped Robert’s body, “…although it’s probable.”
Cam
The prosecution agreed to not have a jury?? Were they insane? A jury would have convicted these guys.
TiredOldQueen@Queerty
My problem with identity politics is that it paints us all in one light, as if just because we are gay means we are decent people. Not true. Lots of freaks out there, of every stripe.
People learn to be careful, mostly, but some don’t live to tell about it.
The meth culture, the unsafe sex culture, the culture of painting people with too broad a brushstroke without understanding that sexuality, like race, only touches the surface of who a person is.
Its what I hate about “outing,” as though only the closeted are evil. There are lots of bad-news “out” people whom we should be spending sometime exposing.
Fitz
Wone didn’t see itself as a full human being, so I don’t see why it’s death matters any more than my neighbor’s cat. You want to be degraded baby? Dead is about as degraded as it gets.
Cam
@Fitz:
He was staying overnight at a friends house because he worked late. What the hell are you talking about?
Richard
The judge was right to sentence the men the way she did, but god, don’t you wish that maybe the justice system really could just do what its supposed to do? Such a handsome, charming smile he had.