Angry in the Great White North

These charges are go back six years:

Five misdemeanour counts of child pornography possession have been pending against Karr in Sonoma County since April 2001, when authorities arrested him and seized his computer, alleging that the hard drive contained five sexually oriented images of children.

Expect Karr to fight the charges:

Karr pleaded not guilty to all counts and was jailed for six months, but he left the country before he could be tried. Prosecutors decided to pursue the charges after Karr surfaced last month as a suspect in the JonBenet killing.

During preliminary hearings in 2001, Karr's public defenders waived his right to a speedy trial as they tried to get a judge to invalidate the search warrant that allowed Sonoma sheriff's deputies to enter Karr's home and seize his computer.

So expect the fight over the legality of the original search. And on the integrity of the evidence after six years.

Assuming the case survives these hurdles, Karr will demand a jury trial. In California, the right to a jury trial is taken very seriously. The Supreme Court of California has ruled on that on several occasions, and has consistently come down on the side of the right to a jury trial (for example, a contract that waives a jury trial is unenforceable). Here's the relevant portion of the state constitution:

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 1 DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

SEC. 16. Trial by jury is an inviolate right and shall be secured to all, but in a civil cause three-fourths of the jury may render a verdict. A jury may be waived in a criminal cause by the consent of both parties expressed in open court by the defendant and the defendant's counsel. In a civil cause a jury may be waived by the consent of the parties expressed as prescribed by statute.

In civil causes the jury shall consist of 12 persons or a lesser number agreed on by the parties in open court. In civil causes other than causes within the appellate jurisdiction of the court of appeal the Legislature may provide that the jury shall consist of eight persons or a lesser number agreed on by the parties in open court.

In criminal actions in which a felony is charged, the jury shall consist of 12 persons. In criminal actions in which a misdemeanor is charged, the jury shall consist of 12 persons or a lesser number agreed on by the parties in open court.

Note that in California, the right to a jury trial applies to both felony and misdemeanor charges. So Karr can assert this right, and the State of California must respect this right. But then all Karr has to do is argue that no impartial jury could ever be assembled given the massive publicity in this case.

And he'd be right.

If the state can't provide for all his constitutional rights with regards to a criminal proceeding, the charges will have to be dropped. Karr will walk away a free man, directly to nearest playground if he so chooses.

And there is nothing the authorities can do about it, thanks to a stupid decision not to wait an extra week before flying him out of Thailand, and to ignore all the people who said that there was every reason to believe that Karr was lying (including the author of this blog).