There's an underlying assumption in today's Daily News story on murder suspect Scott Doll's mayoral candidacy in Corfu that Doll shouldn't be on the ballot.
Two phrases related to America's judicial system spring to mind: presumption of innocence and innocent until proven guilty.
Doll hasn't even been indicted yet for the beating death of Joseph Benaquist.
The evidence against Doll, as reported so far, is pretty damning. But none of us where there. None of us yet really know what's going on. There could be as yet some undiscovered or unreleased piece of evidence exonerating Doll.
I'm not saying or even suggesting that such evidence exists. The issue to me is it seems a violation of due process to remove Doll's name -- a punishment of sorts -- from the Corfu ballot until he's convicted. Shouldn't we just drop the question of whether his name is on the ballot until he is either convicted or admits the crime? If neither happens before the election in March, it's up to the voters of Corfu to decide whether they want to stand behind a man suspected of murder.
I know that I wouldn't want
I know that I wouldn't want him to represent me and the town I live in. He was found covered in blood. Innocent until proven guilty..this is what the judicial system says. But not always the truth. And if they didn't have enough evidence against him he would have been released after 24 hrs.
"There could be as yet some
"There could be as yet some undiscovered or unreleased piece of evidence exonerating Doll."
Yes, there could be. Pigs could start flying tomorrow too, but I wouldn't bet on that either.
I suppose after Doll was picked up and questioned, it was just a million to one shot coincidence that deputies then went to Benaquist's house and found him dead. Totally unrelated matters entirely.
I did say the case doesn't
I did say the case doesn't look good for him based on what has been reported.
But due process is due process.
I think Mr. Dolls name should
I think Mr. Dolls name should remain on the ballot until he decides to remove it or until he is convicted. If the voters do not want to vote for him they won't vote for him, it's that simple. Mr. Doll IS innocent until proven guilty, and until that time he has the right to remain a candidate for Mayor of Corfu.
I don't think it matters if
I don't think it matters if his name is removed or not, nobody will vote for him anyways- even if by some crazy way they find him innocent. A guy walking down the street in the middle of the night, covered in blood, is not someone people would want as mayor, murderer or not.
I think everyone should wait
I think everyone should wait until the true story comes out. You don't realize how media twists the truth until something like this happens so close to home.
Anyone who has known Scott knows there had to be some ulterior motive or action to what happened that night. What you get from the media is always the most vague information, but it will always depict the worst situation. And no matter what he is convicted of, people will still back him. Maybe not as mayor, or maybe still as mayor who knows? We will have to see. But if he is charged with his accused crimes, then and only then should his name be taken off of the Corfu ballot.
My heart goes out to both families, the Doll's as my own and the Benaquist's. My deepest sincerity that this is resolved soon; in such a small town like Corfu nobody expects anything to this magnitude.
Hey, gotta defend the media
Hey, gotta defend the media in this case. As for The Batavian, we've reported everything that's been made available to us and I believe with out spin or inaccuracy. The Daily and WBTA seem to be on top of things, too. All the facts that are available to the public are out there.
Yeah, the media -- especially the national media -- gets things wrong or distorted all the time. But that isn't the case here, for sure.
We just don't know what we don't know.
And one last point, even charged doesn't mean guilty.
I don't think we will ever
I don't think we will ever get the whole true story. I do believe that there had to have been some sort of major issue happen between the both of them. But I do want to add that my heart does go out to both families. In such a small community, everyone knows everyone, and this is a difficult situation for all.
I realize that part of this
I realize that part of this conversation is about the fairness of trying to remove his name from the ballot, but the fact needs to be stated that it's too late to remove it from the ballot and that it will be on at election time according to election law.