Unconsciousness rampant in trial In the recent...

Unconsciousness rampant in trial

In the recent trial of the teenagers accused of rape and sexually

assaulting a 16-year-old girl, which ended in a deadlocked jury, it

seems that not only was Jane Doe unconscious during the attack on

her, but members of the jury must have been unconscious during much

of the testimony, or their decisions would have not been as they

were.

Finally, we have unconscionable ravings in your Mailbag on

Wednesday (“Mistrial ‘sickening’ but not surprising”). The writer

seems to place the entire blame of the mistrial on the Bush

administration. I would fear the legitimate results of any jury on

which she might sit.

DON HILLIARD

Newport Beach

As a woman, outcome of trial was an outrage

As I listen to a local radio station announce the mistrial of the

Haidl gang-rape case, it is mentioned that the defendants received

slaps on the backs in congratulations.

How fitting. According to the defendants, this woman encouraged

this activity, all in the name of fun. As a woman, this is an

outrage. What rape victim is going to come forward, when she knows

her sex life is going to be brought out in court? Why would any rape

victim subject herself to something like this, when in the end, the

defendants will walk away.

MARIA MAIORANA-BISS

San Clemente

Expect only more of same after mistrial

With regard to the mistrial in the case of the three teens accused

of rape and sexual assault, when we acquit or can no longer recognize

criminal depravity, we should neither be surprised nor express

disgust that we have more of it.

BYRON DE ARAKAL

Costa Mesa

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Bryon de Arakal is a Costa Mesa Parks and

Recreation Commissioner.

Abortion not limited

to just woman’s body

As a person who voted for George W. Bush and his “neo-con,

fundamental Christian-right views” in 2000, I feel compelled to

respond to Pamela Brande’s attempt Wednesday to label the case of

Greg Haidl, Kyle Nachreiner and Keith Spann (“Mistrial ‘sickening’

but not surprising”) as a deliberate attack on women’s rights.

I am in complete agreement that a woman has the right to make

decisions regarding her own body. What Brande and many other

anti-abortion advocates fail to understand, or at least admit to, is

that abortion is not limited to just the woman’s body. She is making

a life-or-death decision regarding an innocent, unborn child. Roe v.

Wade to the contrary, hopefully our judicial system is beginning to

understand. It is for this reason that Scott Peterson is being

appropriately charged with murder in the death of his unborn son.

From a moral and legal perspective, can taking the life of an unborn

child be murder in one instance and a woman’s “choice” in another?

DON SNYDER

Costa Mesa

Students deserve more than casual apology

Rarely have I seen a more blatant case of “blame the victim” than

in the recent hoopla surrounding the decision of several graduating

UC Irvine Muslim students to wear stoles declaring the “shahada,” the

fundamental Muslim declaration of faith.

For any group or individual to publicly label such an action as

support of terrorism not only betrays a profound ignorance of

religious worldviews, but is also racism -- utter, vile, dangerous

racism.

Tarnishing the image of a group of students deserves more than

just a casual apology.

An incident like this demands that we take a hard look at the

double standards we employ when evaluating actions of American

Muslims versus any other American citizen. The accusations against

the students from prominent anti-defamation groups are an ironic

black eye in the face of the civil rights and religious freedom that

they strive to protect. The UC Irvine administration deserves praise

for handling this incident justly, and the students involved deserve

a major and sincere apology from all those who blindly accused them.

AMMAR AHMED

Houston, Texas