17 April 2009

Noisy housemates beware - Zhenghao Shen gets a suspended sentence

| johnboy
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Last October those of us who’ve lived in share houses were enthralled by the tale of Zhenghao Shen who took to a housemate’s head with a chef’s knife when the noise of a late night gaming session got too much for him.

The ABC now reports that Chief Justice Higgins appears to have had some sympathy, handing down a 12 month suspended sentence with an 18 month good behaviour bond for recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.

So when your housemate asks you to turn it down, give it some thought. Or they might go all Zhenghao on you.

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People, have a read of the sentences given by the chief justice. They are an absolute laugh. All the defendants have to do is say they had a bad childhood and/or they’re on drugs and the chief justice gets all weepy eyed and lets them off with suspended sentences.

His alternative would be a continuation of no-one having responsibility for anything, ever

oops I meant farq – apologies

Farg – Can you please explain which parts of our judicial system you classify as medieval and what your proposal as alternative would be?

vg said :

So your opinion is based on what?

Zero I’d say

community expectations. sorry not all of us want to throw away the key.

So your opinion is based on what?

Zero I’d say

vg said :

To ask that question you’ve clearly never spent time in the said judicial system

and thank god for that, it’s a fcuking medieval system.

those of us outside the today tonight viewers don’t want a pound of flesh. just the outcome that causes the least harm.

“Who is frustrated?”

To ask that question you’ve clearly never spent time in the said judicial system

johnboy said :

No matter how frustrated a judge might make you, it’s nothing to the terror of a politically vulnerable judiciary.

who is frustrated? only the ones with a mob mentality who deep down just want a return to public executions.

Deadmandrinking said :

Does the guys behavior sound a little like he might be mentally unstable? I mean, we’ve all wanted to stab our housemates before, but jeez, you’d really have to lose it. Coupled with what seems to be a first offense…could it be the case that he might be required to undergo counseling etc?

too true dmd (except I’ve never wanted to stab a housemate).

Poor judgments can be overturned by the appeals process. Politicians can’t arbitrarily sack judges (for any number of very good reasons; judicial independence is rather important in democracies) but they can be removed if they’re found to be incompetent.

Lucky for this woman, Zhenghao wasn’t her neighbour

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25350428-5017817,00.html

No matter how frustrated a judge might make you, it’s nothing to the terror of a politically vulnerable judiciary.

“Do you have data available which proves that Canberra residents want people found guilty to be given ‘heavy’ sentences, that the current sentences typically handed down don’t meet these preferences and that such sentencing is contributing to recidivism, or did you just make that up?”

Every victim of crime I’ve ever met, will that do?

Ah no, what I said what a judge couldn’t be dismissed for poor judgment. Gross negligence or incompetence is another story

NickD said :

taco said :

there does appear to be a trend of allowing bail and giving light (suspended) sentences that are out of line of community expectations, that does appear to be encouraging and enabling recidivisim.

Do you have data available which proves that Canberra residents want people found guilty to be given ‘heavy’ sentences, that the current sentences typically handed down don’t meet these preferences and that such sentencing is contributing to recidivism, or did you just make that up?

If you re-read my post again you will see that it is obvious that I do not have any data on this, and that I am not involved in any way with the criminal justice system. I am just merely commenting on my observations of popular opinion gained from the media. If I had access to any research on the subject I would have quoted it as such.

My main inquiry, as to whether a chief justice can be held accountable for gross negligence or incompetence, to which vg claims there is not. This worries me, as every position of power should have a mechanism for accountability – even the Prime Minister can be sacked by the Governor General (and I think vice versa). Can our Chief Minister or Attorney General dismiss the judiciary?

There’s something really wrong with the law in this country. You get locked up for growing dope a naturally occurring Asiatic herb and you get set free for stabbing some one in the head recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.

taco said :

there does appear to be a trend of allowing bail and giving light (suspended) sentences that are out of line of community expectations, that does appear to be encouraging and enabling recidivisim.

Do you have data available which proves that Canberra residents want people found guilty to be given ‘heavy’ sentences, that the current sentences typically handed down don’t meet these preferences and that such sentencing is contributing to recidivism, or did you just make that up?

Yep like I said a while ago the lunatic who murdered those two people last year in Downer he’ll be lucky to get more then 10 years in this town. Im guessing between 5 and 10. In the US it would be life without parole or the death penalty.

Deadmandrinking3:09 pm 18 Apr 09

Does the guys behavior sound a little like he might be mentally unstable? I mean, we’ve all wanted to stab our housemates before, but jeez, you’d really have to lose it. Coupled with what seems to be a first offense…could it be the case that he might be required to undergo counseling etc?

jessieduck said :

What the f have you got to do to get locked up in this town??

Murder someone.

Hang on, even that’s not right

I am hoping that when the prison is open and fully operational, that the judges will feel more inclined to putting people in there.

Perhaps they just don’t want to send them to the already overcrowded remand centre, or to NSW.

It is probably wishful thinking, but anyway.

jessieduck said :

What the f have you got to do to get locked up in this town??

Agreed. These continuing light sentences for violent crimes sends an appalling message to the community

“Is there a legal mechanism whereby a Chief Justice can be held to account for poor judgment, where it can be demonstrated that they have failed to both deter criminals and protect the community repeatably with their leniency?”

No

“Can victims of crimes committed by offenders who really should have been in custody, file a class action against the judge who’s demonstrated incompetence allowed the crimes to occur?”

No

I don’t know if Zhenghao Shen would fit the profile of your typical recidivist offender, and if the suspended sentence carried with it an order to get psychiatric help or not, but there does appear to be a trend of allowing bail and giving light (suspended) sentences that are out of line of community expectations, that does appear to be encouraging and enabling recidivisim.

Is there a legal mechanism whereby a Chief Justice can be held to account for poor judgment, where it can be demonstrated that they have failed to both deter criminals and protect the community repeatably with their leniency?

Can victims of crimes committed by offenders who really should have been in custody, file a class action against the judge who’s demonstrated incompetence allowed the crimes to occur?

pelican said :

Unbelievable. What has gone wrong with our justice system.

Asking what’s gone wrong with the justice system in Canberra assumes it was, at one stage, right.

You only need to read the paper or this site to know that what happened here is the rule, not the exception.

Or utter these 2 words

Terry

Higgins

Often that’s all you need say.

And people honestly wonder why the rate of recidivist (repeat offender) crime is so high in the ACT. 90% of our crime is committed by 10% of our crooks because nothing is ever done to deter them

I would have thought that it was obvious that anyone who stabs someone else in the head because they’re playing a loud game has more than a few problems with their own head and probably isn’t fully responsible for their actions. What would have been achieved by locking this guy up? I presume that he’ll be kicked out of the country.

What the f have you got to do to get locked up in this town??

presumably this will harm his visa status?

Unbelievable. What has gone wrong with our justice system.

So stabbing a person in the head now get you a suspended sentence? Sheesh..

I wonder if the Phenomenon 2009 organisers will now issue their security guys a picture of Zhenghao Shen with instruction not to admit him under any circumstances?

Higgins, GBH, suspended sentence, good behaviour bond

The Canberra courts are like a word association game. Nothing unusual in the above. A Canberra court would have given Saddam Hussein a non-custodial order

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