"Among the items found in the hotel room and introduced as evidence Friday...
two sex toys -- "tools for degrading and humiliating this ninth-grader,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy called them in her opening statement.

Stabler acknowledged that while playing the part of the girl, he broached the
idea of Sherzer buying the sex toys for the hypothetical encounter."

IF THIS ISN'T ENTRAPMENT, WHAT IS?

By Larry Parr

After the jury left Friday, [judge] Granade denied [defense lawyer]
Williams' motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of outrageous governmental
conduct... Sherzer's lawyer is arguing entrapment, saying the relationship
turned sexual only after Stabler [FBI agent, pretending to be the girl] got
involved. -- newspaper report


We thank Kid Don for providing a link. In his professional opinion, should the
judge have thrown the case out of court or, at least, suppressed all e-mails
once the FBI intervened? DeLorean won his case against the feds on the basis of
entrapment, and we hope that Alex Sherzer does too.

THE ''EVIDENCE'' STINKS

In this layman's opinion if Sherzer is convicted, the case will be appealed and
the sentence probably reversed. Meanwhile Alex Sherzer will be branded a
"sexual predator" for the rest of his natural born days.

Prosecutors rested their case Friday afternoon without calling the
now-16-year-old girl to testify. Defense testimony is to begin Monday morning,
and closing arguments could be made that afternoon.

Under heavy cross-examination for nearly three hours Friday morning, Stabler
disputed defense lawyer Carlos Williams' contention that Stabler used wording
like "Ya miss me?" and the signoff "xoxox" to open a new aspect to the
relationship.

"Now, 'kisses and hugs' means greater intimacy, doesn't it?" Williams asked.

"Not necessarily," Stabler replied, noting that many teenage girls often use
the symbols in messages to each other.

Stabler testified that he first mentioned to Sherzer the idea of the girl in a
bikini, and also made references to wishing someone would take her to the beach
so she could work on her tan. He acknowledged presenting the possibility of the
girl traveling to Maryland to visit Sherzer, as well as stressing the girl's
desire for help in running away.

The agent insisted, though, that those were natural progressions of earlier
comments between Sherzer and the real girl.

"This was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, wasn't it?" Williams
challenged, prompting Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade to call the
lawyers to the bench for a lengthy discussion.

Among the items found in the hotel room and introduced as evidence Friday:

A black bag similar to an old-fash ioned doctor's kit, containing tweezers, a
stethoscope, a statuette of Hippocrates, the ancient Greek "father of
medicine," and two sex toys -- "tools for degrading and humiliating this
ninth-grader," Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy called them in her opening
statement.

Stabler acknowledged that while playing the part of the girl, he broached the
idea of Sherzer buying the sex toys for the hypothetical encounter.

Several bottles of liquor and two shot glasses, as well as two books of
cocktail recipes. At least two dozen unopened condom packets. Three bottles of
Viagra with the prescription in Sherzer's name.

[[[Wow! Sounds criminal to me!]]]

Several notebooks containing meticulous entries on moving from Baltimore to
Shreveport by way of Miami and Mobile. One notebook contained lists of goals,
written in Hungarian, that showed the writer's desires to become a doctor, be
responsible, have a wife and family, socialize well and have sex with "lots of
pretty girls," an FBI linguist testified.

[[[Wow! What a crime! Lock up hetero males who want sex with lots of pretty
girls.]]]

Boxes of books, including philosophy, poetry, Harper Lee's "To Kill a
Mockingbird," works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the playwright Henry Miller,
chess manuals and medical journals. Prosecutors highlighted several other
titles like "Secrets of Seduction," "How to Be the Best Lover a Girl Ever Had,"
"A Guide to Picking up Girls," a psychology treatise subtitled "How We Change
After We Lose Our Dads" and a copy of "Lolita," Vladimir Nabokov's notorious
novel about a man's sexual fascination with a 12-year-old girl.

[[[Wow! Since when is owning these books a crime?]]]

"Chess & Sex on Trial -- Does FBI Have Something Better to Do?" -- e-mail from
IM Anthony Saidy

"drahmiel" wrote in message
...
From: (Parrthenon)


"Chess & Sex on Trial -- Does FBI Have Something Better to Do?" -- e-mail
from
IM Anthony Saidy

How exactly is chess on trial?

And since when did the FBI get involved?

StanB

Maybe Sherzer will get off on the entrapment defense, but I see nothing
wrong with that result and he also being branded a "sexual predator" for the
rest of his natural born days.

Even if you accept that the conversation between Sherzer, 32, and a 15-year
old girl he initiated after seeing her picture on the Internet was entirely
innocent (please...), from what has been presented so far he thought he was
going to Mobile to meet and "sex" a 15-year old. Sounds pretty predatory to
me.

Let's see, he rents a motel room with a jacuzi (sure, do that all the time
on business trips), brings sex toys (required packing on any business trip,
right?), several bottles of viagra (trying to break Sting's record?), writes
out notes about sexing a 15 year old, then appears outside her place of
institionalization.

Connect the dots.

Randy Bauer

"Parrthenon" wrote in message
...

In this layman's opinion if Sherzer is convicted, the case will be
appealed and
the sentence probably reversed. Meanwhile Alex Sherzer will be branded a
"sexual predator" for the rest of his natural born days.

Maybe Sherzer will get off on the entrapment defense, but I see nothing
wrong with that result and he also being branded a "sexual predator" for the
rest of his natural born days.

Even if you accept that the conversation between Sherzer, 32, and a 15-year
old girl he initiated after seeing her picture on the Internet was entirely
innocent (please...), from what has been presented so far he thought he was
going to Mobile to meet and "sex" a 15-year old. Sounds pretty predatory to
me.

The problem is that the "15 year-old" had the mind of an adult law enforcement
official who was looking for specific criminal behavior, to the point of
attempting to induce it.


Let's see, he rents a motel room with a jacuzi (sure, do that all the time
on business trips), brings sex toys (required packing on any business trip,
right?), several bottles of viagra (trying to break Sting's record?), writes
out notes about sexing a 15 year old, then appears outside her place of
institionalization.

Connect the dots.

The issue is that this behavior seemed to originate only when the "15 year-old"
was replaced by an adult.

That is the entrapment defense, and has no bearing on the fact that Sherzer
THOUGHT he was still dealing with his 15 year old friend. Perhaps the
criminal behavior was induced, but, as Churchill pointed out in asking a
woman if she would go to bed with him for some lage sum of money with her
accepting but she declining for some smaller sum, they had already
determined what sort of woman she was, now they were just haggling over the
price.

We have, if the evidence is correct, determined what sort of man Sherzer is,
we are just haggling over the legality of his actions.

"LeModernCaveman" wrote in message
...
Maybe Sherzer will get off on the entrapment defense, but I see nothing
wrong with that result and he also being branded a "sexual predator" for
the
rest of his natural born days.

Even if you accept that the conversation between Sherzer, 32, and a
15-year
old girl he initiated after seeing her picture on the Internet was
entirely
innocent (please...), from what has been presented so far he thought he
was
going to Mobile to meet and "sex" a 15-year old. Sounds pretty predatory
to
me.

The problem is that the "15 year-old" had the mind of an adult law
enforcement
official who was looking for specific criminal behavior, to the point of
attempting to induce it.


Let's see, he rents a motel room with a jacuzi (sure, do that all the
time
on business trips), brings sex toys (required packing on any business
trip,
right?), several bottles of viagra (trying to break Sting's record?),
writes
out notes about sexing a 15 year old, then appears outside her place of
institionalization.

Connect the dots.

The issue is that this behavior seemed to originate only when the "15
year-old"
was replaced by an adult.

John Fernandez wrote:

The problem is that the "15 year-old" had the mind of an adult law
enforcement
official who was looking for specific criminal behavior, to the point of
attempting to induce it.

Irrelevant for everything except the criminal proceedings. He willingly went
out to have sex with a 15 year old girl, knowing full well her background,
situation and age. The legal stuff is a technicality to me.

John Fernandez

Naturally to you John it is a technicality. To Sherzer it is a
question of going to jail possibly or not.

He will either be found not guilty and have his reputation ruined
permanently anyway, or he'll be found guilty and will serve time AS WELL
as having his reputation ruined.

Either way, if I had a 15 year old daughter, his behavior would not
exactly impress me. I have an extreme dislike of government internet
stings like this however, which often make us wonder whether the
government is out there throwing out baited hooks, waiting for someone
to respond out of curiosity.

If ever someone wanted a classic example of the difference between
wisdom and intelligence, one could clearly see the concepts contrasted
in Sherzer.

Best Regards,

Bruce

Paul Rubin wrote:

"Randy Bauer" writes:
Even if you accept that the conversation between Sherzer, 32, and a 15-year
old girl he initiated after seeing her picture on the Internet was entirely
innocent (please...), from what has been presented so far he thought he was
going to Mobile to meet and "sex" a 15-year old. Sounds pretty predatory to
me.

Would it have been predatory if she was 16 and legal in Alabama?

Probably not.

Would it have been predatory if it was in Hungary, where Sherzer had
his medical training?

Not sure if it matters, since this is the United States and not
Hungary. I don't even think Sherzer will use that defense. Would a
heroin user claim that it's not illegal in the Netherlands as his
defense, if caught with heroin?

According to the handy ageofconsent.com link
that jfern provided, the age of consent there is 14.

Also, "she" was the one that hit on him, and from all signs may have
been more sexually experienced than he was. Who is the predator?

Generally the 32 year old male with the problem.

There is only one child in this situation, although you seem to expect
the child to act like an adult while excusing the adult for acting like
a child.

Best Regards,

Bruce

A MERE TECHNICALITY?

By Larry Parr

Naturally to you John it is a technicality. To Sherzer it is a
question of going to jail possibly or not. He will either be found not guilty
and have his reputation ruined
permanently anyway, or he'll be found guilty and will serve time AS WELL
as having his reputation ruined. -- Bruce Draney

In my opinion, the government's actions in this case were infinitely more vile
than anything GM Sherzer is alleged to have done.