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NEWS: Christopher Handley Pleads Guilty to Possession Charges


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Hayami



Joined: 14 Oct 2004
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:34 am Reply with quote
Ariolander wrote:

I am extremely disappointed in his lawyer Eric Chase, his firm United Defense Group, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund who acted as special adviser to the defense.

The CBLDF used Hadley's case as a flagship for fund raising and when push came to shove according to the family they let his lawyers screw him.


I agree with you on his lawyer Eric Chase (or whoever from him team talked Chris into pleading) and United Defense Group - if your / AnimeFriend's / Justice's information is correct.


http://www.icaruscomics.com/wp_web/?p=2930&cpage=1#comment-45193
Justice on May 16, 2009 at 11:43 am

Quote:
This whole case makes me sick.

After getting to know Chris and talking with him and learning about the whole matter… it just scares me to think if I have to ask myself if the next dvd I buy… the next graphic novel I buy… legally as far as I can tell would wind up netting me a felony charge. Crazy….

While I don’t feel comfortable saying much but I really wish his attorney would actually feel like there was a chance of winning this case. I dunno… when even your attorney suggests that a person take a plea bargain (with idea of what sentence you will receive its no minimum to several years in jail and ADMITTING what you did was wrong and NEVER able to go back and reconsider) things are seriously fucked up in my eyes.

6 days until Friday… *sigh*


http://www.japanator.com/elephant/post.phtml?pk=9978#comments
AnimeFriend on May 21, 2009
Quote:
Hello all. I am a close friend of Chris' family. To shed some light on what happened, I thought I would share what I know. It was his own lawyer that encouraged him to take the plea. His lawyer convinced him that the case could not be won, and that he would be better off to plea to the lesser charge. However, it is my understanding that Chris was mislead in this. From what we were told, the lesser charge was simply the possession and import of obscene materials. He was also told that if he plead out, that he would more than likely not see any time as he has been on probation this whole time and has not been any kind of a threat to society since he had been placed on probation. Many of us that know Chris, are just as disappointed and upset as many of you. It is a miscarriage of justice, and with any luck it can be appealed.

I feel that his lawyer failed him greatly. This really is a travesty, especially considering the kind of money that was paid to this lawyer and to his defense. This whole situation has been an incredible blow, not only to the anime community, but to the art world at large. I will pass on well wishes to his family. Thank you all for your support and thoughts over the last couple of years, and God willing, hopefully this won't happen to anyone else out there. But just in case, a word to the wise, don't forget...Big brother is watching.

AnimeFriend on May 22, 2009

Quote:
Quote:
Does anyone know if the drawings were of anime girls or if they were like realistic drawings of little girls(I have seen some that look like the artist used real life references for his drawings).



They were anime. Not realistic drawings of little girls.

One thing that I had forgotten to add in my above post, was what his lawyer had told him. According to a conversation I had with his sister just a few hours ago, his lawyer had told him a month or so ago that if he took the plea then he would be plea bargaining down to possession of obscene materials. Nothing mentioning obscene materials with children in them. Also that he would not serve any time in jail because he's been a good boy while he was on probation, and that his fine would be under a grand. His family is rather upset over the whole thing and is like every one else, in wishing that he hadn't taken the plea. However, it all came down to what his lawyer wanted to do. His lawyer didn't want to fight it. So, he threw Chris under the bus.

Quite honestly, I don't think it really matters what drawings are of anyway. Why does it matter? What one man considers to be art, another man will consider garbage. If the feds are able to go after people for cartoons, and that's what they are folks, cartoons, then what is going to stop them from going after other forms of art? They have already been able to shut down websites because of dirty stories, which like this case, has no real life victims in them. How long is it going to be before they start putting us all in playpens and dictate everything that we say, see, or do?



But I also agree with mangablog's advice:

Quote:
A commenter at Japanator claims to be a friend of Handley’s and explains the logic behind the plea bargain. However, the commenter is anonymous and this is the internet, so some skepticism may be in order.
http://www.mangablog.net/?p=4452


It would be nice if Handley or anyone who knows him personally yet not afraid to use his/her real name could confirm it.


I disagree about CBLDF. See
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cbldf_charles_brownstein_on_the_christopher_handley_case_and_yesterdays_ana/
&
http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000390.shtml

May be they could try to give him an advice, but they couldn't know that the lawyers who should aid and defend Handley would mislead/deceive him.
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Hayami



Joined: 14 Oct 2004
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:40 pm Reply with quote
Matt Thorn's blog post including two letters by Christopher Handley’s mother (May 24, 2009 & May 26, 2009) :
http://matt-thorn.com/wordpress/?p=318
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Hayami



Joined: 14 Oct 2004
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2009 5:36 am Reply with quote
Lovely, they made Matt remove the letters.

It was the only not anonymous article on the net that allowed us to view this case from the perspective of Christopher's family. Now yet again we're left with a bunch of speculations and a myriad of news reports "Handley pleads guilty". Way to go.

(the link to the google cache of the original article by Matt removed)


Last edited by Hayami on Thu May 28, 2009 10:13 am; edited 2 times in total
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DFBTG



Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 385
Location: Hell
PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2009 11:23 am Reply with quote
I'm deeply disappointed about this, but...well, it's his decision. On another note, for those still thinking about donating to the CBLDF, apparently you can donate tickets to them via Microsoft's live search club. If you don't have money to spare, but time to kill, might as well play the boring games to get tickets. Of course with the case being all but over, is it really necessary? Sure, it may happen again later, but given what did occur, I'm not sure how many other potential 'criminals' would be willing to stand up and fight.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 12:50 am Reply with quote
Hayami: I'm sure there's a reason for those letters being removed, so let's respect the privacy of certain individuals.

Anyway, I just love that a government willing to create rapists on the basis of porn doesn't want to prosecute or expose real rape it condoned against detainees. Rolling Eyes
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Hayami



Joined: 14 Oct 2004
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:40 am Reply with quote
I can understand your concerns, GATSU. But I wouldn't say that I was disrespectful of Matt's or Beverly's privacy since originally she agreed with the publication of these letters. I'm not sure whether I would want to get it removed from the net entirely if I was in the same situation (and obviously I don't even know what exactly happened). But as of now it's the only chance for people to learn the truth. So many have the wrong image of Christopher, so many blame him for pleading guilty Anime cry
Now, if you mean the privacy of these who issued the "gag orders" (even though it weren't court orders or alike) ...
Either way I removed it to avoid further controversy.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 3:01 pm Reply with quote
I'm not sure if she agreed with the letters being published as much as being shared with individuals who might be able to help her son.
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Hayami



Joined: 14 Oct 2004
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2009 5:51 pm Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
I'm not sure if she agreed with the letters being published as much as being shared with individuals who might be able to help her son.

Matt wrote:
(...) I am tempted to put these e-mails, along with yours, on my own blog, since there is so little information out there on the case, let alone about Chris himself. (...)

Beverly wrote:
(...) Feel free to do with my e-mails what you wish as they are from me since Chris is not allowed to “chat” with anyone or ask anyone one to do so on his behalf. Fortunately they didn’t put any restrictions on me when they put him in my custody. (...)

I would have never linked it otherwise.

I would rather delete the quotes above, but I can't do if you leave your post as it is. You could have just checked the cache or PMed me if you don't have the link anymore.
Btw. I even posted in AN today to correct the wrong info that Handley was on probation for real CP - even though it's about the most hostile place on the net for my kind and I avoided it for years. I truly wish to help him to avoid being slandered or/and misunderstood.
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Mitsuho



Joined: 04 Mar 2009
Posts: 47
PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 4:03 pm Reply with quote
Two questions I have are:
1) What are the titles he imported?
2) How long did the give him after he opened the package?


Last edited by Mitsuho on Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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GATSU



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 5:52 pm Reply with quote
Hayami: Then maybe certain lawyers or judges told her to quash the letters?
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tyciol



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 134
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 2:33 am Reply with quote
This has got to be the most ridiculous misrepresentation. The way the media words it, like always, it so alarm people. They make it sound like he was drawing real children like Jack drew Rose or something like that, when really it is a bunch of artists overseas scouring their own imaginations.

Speaking of Titanic, even though the actress was an adult, I do believe Rose the character was 17, and even if her posing nude was not porn, surely the sex scene with her was, so therefore, shouldn't everyone who owns that movie be arrested?

How ridiculous do we get? This stupid alarmism, the whole idea of obscenity and the selectiveness when it can be applied. This is basically legislating the ability to hate someone into jail.
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red255



Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:09 pm Reply with quote
Glancing at the plea he signed, what he pled guilty to were 2 charges, both with no minimum penalty, and with a maximum penalty of 10 and 5 years with 250,000 maximum fine (each) +3 years parole.

Likely signing that, judging those were lost causes and making a more speedy trial would get the judge to give him a lesser sentence.

The protect act:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/April/03_ag_266.htm

Was made to better police 'virtual' child porn.

not virtual child porn, but child porn that was claimed to be virtual.

....Its not exactly the legislators fault here.
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Hayami



Joined: 14 Oct 2004
Posts: 38
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:46 pm Reply with quote
red255 wrote:

....Its not exactly the legislators fault here.
And whose fault is here?

Like Neil Gaiman said, the Law is a huge blunt weapon. If you make "obscene" cartoons illegal, sooner or later you'll get someone jailed just for that, cartoons.

The modified § 2256 is fully sufficient to achieve the goal you stated, see (8) and (11). Adding § 1466A not because they considered this kind of "obscenity" truly dangerous (as in a sincere attempt to ban the books which might eventually fuel the urges of the "wrong crowd") but rather as a workaround to "nail" alleged CP collectors would be even a worse kind of injustice.
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red255



Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:17 pm Reply with quote
If the police force was capable of getting people justly it wouldn't have to resort to this.

Its not a job for our best and brightest.

Lawyers, as they are paid the most and deal with the most specific and personal level of this are the ones who really drop the ball if they let something slide.

I mean which guy in congress WOULD you trust with a sharp instrument?

maybe you like a few of them, but these guys aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

You want to blame them go ahead. but when the whole lot of them aren't good at their job, its the system's fault.
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tyciol



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 134
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 12:14 am Reply with quote
I remember Neil Gaiman made a couple blog posts about this, I wonder if he and the CBLDF have any plans on continuing work, or maybe the issue dropped?

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

Just checking up on it, I don't see any recent posts. I guess I can't blame him, guy leads a busy life, but it was just so epic in real time when he was standing up for this issue.
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