You really can’t really blame Charlie Rangel. Based on his experience you can blatantly break the law and get a slap on the wrist. So he can’t be expected to know that ordinary citizens actually get punished for their crimes.
The New York Post has the story:
Members of the Abyssinian Baptist Church packed a Manhattan courtroom yesterday, hoping to post $50,000 in church money to bail out an accused prep-schooler-turned-gun-moll — even though the renowned congregation had been the biggest crusaders against her drug ring.
But as Afrika Owes sobbed from the defense table, a Manhattan judge refused to set her free despite her contingent of church members, family and supporters — including embattled Rep. Charles Rangel.
The congressman had been so eager to weigh in in favor of the bond, he was told three times by court officers to sit back down in his front-row seat.
Not so fast, said Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin. There is no case law supporting the use of tax-exempt church funds for bail, he noted, and the parishioners who contributed these funds presumably had no idea they would be used to free an accused drug-gang conspirator.
Owes reportedly was caught on recorded phone calls agreeing to ferry guns for her accused drug-kingpin boyfriend.
“The witness against the defendant is the defendant — the defendant’s own words,” the judge noted.
We’d suggest they break out the old “She didn’t say what she said when she said it” defense. Or maybe the “Who you gonna believe – me or your lyin’ ears” defense. Either one should prove adequate to win the freedom of this poor victim of racism.
Source: New York Post
