Topic: News: James Moser sentenced to 8 years in prison for robberies, assaults

[glennpendlay]

I put up a number of posts on that "other forum" concerning this topic.  I dont want to re-type everything, but to sum it up, the newspaper story that Chris posted is not the whole story.  I am lucky enough to have had James live with me for about 6 months and therefore be fairly close with him and his family.  I know some things about this case that are not public knowledge, but it is not my place and probably not in James interest to go into detail.  James is not the monster that this story makes him out to be.  Knowing what I know, I would not hesitate to let him come and live with me and my two kids again, and wouldnt hesitate to have him take my son to the park or to the grocery store, etc, just like he has done in the past.

James is not a saint, I am not saying he is absolutely blameless.  But he did get 8 years in a "young adult" facility, with eligability for work release almost immedietly, and will be eligable to be out within a couple of months.  This crime would more normally have been punished with 25+ years of hard time for each incidence.  The fact that both prosecutor and judge agreed to sentence as light as possible and give James a punishment that would not ruin the rest of his life speaks volumes about the details of the case that are not known to someone who just read the posted article.

I cant ask you to like James, or to forgive him, or to be his supporter.  I would like to ask you all to at least consider that you might not know the whole story and to suspend at least some of your judgement.  Believe me, James is paying dearly for his mistakes...  To have the weightlifting community unite against him is not in anyones best interest.

Whether you agree or disagree with me, thanks for listening.

glenn

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

But he did get 8 years in a "young adult" facility, with eligability for work release almost immedietly, and will be eligable to be out within a couple of months.

That is good news. I look forward to seeing him on the platform again soon.

[Dave Chiu]

I don't disagree Glenn -- we should all be ready to consider many factors.

We should also be just as ready to show appropriate disapproval for wrong,

... whether the wrong of disallowed performance enhancement,

... or exceptional wrongdoing.

It is precisely because I refuse to pretend to weigh another's soul, that I say the crime MUST be the object of consideration, not whatever may speak good or ill of the perpetrator, past, present or future.

In another current case, I consider it wrong for the NFL to condemn the "illegal" self-arming (and unfortunate self-harming) of Mr. Burress -- the NFL should be concerned about the upright conduct of its athletes, but it is just wrong to deny his human rights and practical interest in being able to defend himself.

I have talented-but-imperfect sons of my own, and always hope for mercy too, but know when it's right for me to accept correction.  I think the Supreme Court is wrong to exempt sub-18 yr-olds and the mentally deficient from capital punishment, even though I am unusually sensitive to the special status of the disabled.

You are right that it IS complicated when you consider the person -- I assert that it is hard but not so complicated when you consider the action.  Was he also a victim of the older perp?  What has he done to make amends, other than what has been imposed by others?  All very complicated except when you focus on the act.

Again, compared to 'roiding-up and shaming your nation and sport in an Olympic scandal, savaging another human being in a way so close to homicidal and known to be wrong IS WORSE.

I was actually one of only two people to vote against the most significant drug suspension in US O-lifting history, not because I think doping is OK, or the alleged perp clearly not guilty, but because I hold the enforcers to a higher standard than those they are supposed to investigate.

The simplest thing would be a self-imposed suspension from competition thru 2012 -- I would cheer his continued dedication and comeback for '16.  If that was not chosen, then I would have no problem voting for a heavier penalty, or standing and turning my back anytime he came to the platform.

I'd do the same to Reza Zadeh if I had credible evidence that he shares the hateful stance of his national leader, so my moralizing is rather unbounded.

What a ramble... or is it just stream of consciousness??

[brian p williams]

I am not in denial, I believe that individuals dishoner themselves by their actions, not the groups that they associated with before during or after any criminal activity.

[Dirk Wilcke]

Getting arrested AT the Olympic Trials...

... does NOT dishonor O-lifting?!?!?

I guess DENIAL is not just the river in Egypt.

I may believe that the US news media aided and comforted our enemy

by making the big deal they did of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses,

but that doesn't change the fact that the idiots who committed those crimes

(and took pictures of themselves doing so)

dishonored the US military far beyond the ability of the UCMJ to gain more than a token of justice.

I think the difference is that the military personnel of Abu Ghraib did what they did during the course of their duty, on a military premisis and possibly with the knowledge of their superiors. It wouldn't have dishonored the military if a private had beaten up a random person on the street in his free time.

[Dave Chiu]

If an O-lifter won a gold medal, say in snowboarding, would that not accrue to our honor?

In the case of a soldier mugging someone off-base/off-duty, I believe the headline would still read:

"Soldier is Alleged Mugger", rather than "Somebody May Have Mugged Someone Else"

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

The reputation of our sport is one of unbridled doping. No one outside of our sport knows anything about James Moser aside from those involved in this situation. So, clearly our sport has far bigger problems in terms of reputation than James Moser.

[Dave Chiu]

Nobody in the public at large knows the name of ANY weightlifter who has tested positive.

There are no gameshow or trivial pursuit questions about steroid-using lifters.

There ARE such "common knowledge" examples of baseball players and sprinters.

We HAVE a problem, but no bigger than most of Olympic sports --

... and to date, the biggest cheating scandal of Beijing has been the "Age Doping" in women's gymnastics.

God bless James Moser and his family as he seeks to get his life on track, and even more so the victims.