What was judge thinking in torture case?
Regarding “Torture charges dropped by judge” (News, April 23): A man is beaten, run over with a car and then stomped in the head because the car hadn’t done enough. The kicker only stopped kicking and stomping when someone threw a basketball at him. The victim “only” suffered “a broken pelvis, broken arm, blurred vision, punctured lung and other internal injuries when he was run over and beaten.” Judge Jan Goldsmith said there was insufficient evidence to show that the kicker “derived sadistic pleasure from the alleged crime,” i.e. no one videotaped the glee as he kicked and stomped the victim. Further, “causing cruel and unusual pain and suffering” wasn’t a strong enough reason to bring a charge of torture. The torturer didn’t have a big enough smile on his face, to show he was deriving sadistic pleasure from the act, to constitute torture. Apparently smiling or laughing while breaking someone’s bones is a bigger offense than just doing the breaking. There is really something wrong wh
